If You're Too Careful

Update

2011-09-05T13:22:00.001-05:00

This blog is obviously dead. If you'd like to follow my latest blogging venture, please head here.

(Not So) Deep Thoughts

2011-02-16T19:23:00.046-06:00

16 February 11 - This blog space has endured its longest stretch of dormancy in quite some time, mostly because I haven't played a hand of poker in over four months. There are many reasons attributable to this inactivity, and the dearth of poker in my life has, as much as any other arbitrary circumstance, driven me to introspection.

Mostly, I haven't played poker because I've been too broke to handle the solitary, applicable bankroll requirements necessary for success; and this factor inevitably led to a negative mindset, which is a death sentence for a poker player. Instead of needlessly becoming insolvent, I simply reduced my 'production' as I concurrently reassessed my current environment. Additionally, over this period of reduction, I found myself increasingly less interested, passionate, and driven to play and study poker at the levels of immersion that are necessary for the moderately-talented to prosper. On top of that, the standard fluctuation of life events (which were all positive turns) tacitly coerced me into a state of poker 'purgatory' that ultimately resulted in the four-month abstinence that continues to this day.

I wouldn't say that this was a conscious, prearranged, or methodical plan of action. Instead, it was an organic one, much akin to trusting your instincts when the pressure exerts itself most forcefully at the moment of truth during a critical juncture deep in a tournament. You have the choice to simply trust your gut or to abandon your instincts and think through the moment empirically. In my opinion, there's really no way to judge which is the better choice. But if you're conditioned to listen to your instincts, and you've employed this tactic repeatedly, you're likely to settle on instinct. Which has led me to this point.

As I slowly backed away from the immediacy of a poker-centric existence, I found myself relieved that my identity wasn't solely defined by poker. Personally speaking, I find it unfulfilling to identify myself solely with an arbitrary vocational pursuit. This has been a constant in the varied iterations of my adult life. It seems strange to me that an accepted, systemic truth of American culture is to define one's life by vocation, attained possessions, and perceived social status. And though it seems vacuous and deceitful to me, throughout my adult life I have often found myself in this self-afflicted rut, searching for a way out. As much as I seemingly despise the conditioned path, I have found it be a familiar road on my life's journey.

Instead--what is most important to me--is to maintain a sense of self that is defined by a healthy, diverse amalgam of influences, undertakings, and events that create a composite of fulfillment. Balance. In striving so fervently (and, in general, unsuccessfully) for immediate, large-scale poker success (hello, delusion), I lost that. And to this myopia do I attribute my lack of passion and desire to play poker.

What has been startlingly impactful, however, is the persistent, nagging 'tug' for attention that poker has exerted on me during this time frame. As far away as I have seemingly been, I have never been fully detached or removed. I know this sounds completely contradictory, but it is true. As desirous as I've been to reorient myself into a balanced lifestyle, I've also been dogged by the notion that poker is an indelible part of my existence (as ridiculous as that might sound), and one that I'm certainly not prone to abandon.

As time has passed, I have felt an odd sense of guilt for not playing or even updating my blog. I realize that sounds egocentric, and that the content of this post is completely self-indulgent, but it is nevertheless something that I feel compelled to examine in the format that is the (poker) blogosphere.

I'm hopeful in the near future to fully re-acquire my desire to play poker on a consistent basis. I think it will happen, though I don't know when, nor am I going to force it. C'est la vie.

If anyone out there is still reading, much thanks.

GCPC Warm-Up

2010-08-22T08:29:00.009-05:00

21 August 10 - Here are some hands from the Beau $15k gtd on Saturday. ~90 players with first place taking $5k+.

25/50: 6 limps to my BB, I check JTo. Flop Jxx. 3 checks, dude in an LSU visor bets 200, SB calls, I call. Turn deuce. SB checks, I check, LSU bets 200, SB calls, I kinda wanna fold but I call. River 3. SB checks, I check, LSU bets 100, SB folds, I call. He has 99.

25/50: 3 limps to my BB, I check 97ss. Flop 77Jdd. SB checks, I bet 100, dude to my left calls, older guy in a soccer jersey calls, SB folds. Turn Qc. I bet 375, dude to my left hems, haws, and folds. Soccer jersey min raises me. Um, Ok. I call. River Ks. I check, he checks. He has AK. Not being results-oriented, but I should be leading this river for value because he can call with plenty of worse hands. Pretty poor choice for me to check this river and I just didn't think through the myriad hand combos he could have.

50/100: 2 limps to my CO, I make it 525 with TT. Psycho/maniac to my left shoves 6000. I laugh and fold and he shows 77. (at this point, I hadn't yet pegged him as 'psycho/maniac' otherwise I snap-call).

150/300 (25a). Folds to my button first hand after break. I open to 700, SB folds. BB announces "re-raise." He makes it 2500 (with about a 10k stack that I cover) and I insta-jam. He lets out a big sigh and finally folds AJo faceup. This is the standard mistake lots of amateurs make. He thinks I'm stealing, so he 3bets, then is exasperated when I shove. First, when you consider 3betting, have a plan for how you're going to react to certain responses. Second, don't turn AJ into a bluff for 25% of your stack. Not good.

200/400 (50a): Table change and now psycho/maniac is on my direct right. UTG+1 reg opens to 1300, dude in Crimson Tide gear calls from the CO, psycho/maniac calls the SB, and I peel black Aces in the BB. I have about 14k and cover everyone but UTG+1. I know UTG+1's range is strong and I know I can credibly rep a squeeze/steal so I jam. UTG+1 snap-calls, Crimson Tide folds, psycho/maniac says something like "man that's a huge pot, screw it, I call" and calls off his last 7k or so. UTG+1 has AK, psycho has J8hh. Flop all-black Txx. Turn 9. River 7. Awesome. Psycho wins huge pot, but I win a side pot and still have a manageable stack.

200/400 (50a): LAG black dude who played well but kinda spewy limps UTG. I make it 1200 (with ~20bbs effective) two to his left with 66. Everybody folds, he calls. Flop K62dd. He checks, I bet 1500, he makes it 4000, I sling the remainder of my stack in, he calls with KT and I double.

400/800 (100a): I open AQo UTG to 1900 with about 20k total. Everyone folds, black dude jams ~15k from the SB, I call, he has JJ, and I whiff.

400/800 (100a): I jam my remaining ~6k with T9dd, get called by KQss, flop a 9 and double.

Lots of push/fold for two levels, then ....

800/1600 (200a). I bust 12th with K9cc vs A7hh on Qc Jc 2s. Bubbling is not fun.

See you at the GCPC in a week.

Chop Suey

2010-06-06T11:16:00.003-05:00

5 June 2010 - I chopped the $20k gtd at the Beau yesterday for a nice little score. Pretty crazy day, with me being all-in several times and holding on each occasion. The run-good prevailed even though I only had QQ once and never saw KK/AA. I don't feel like recounting it right now, but I may later.

Live Donkin'

2010-06-04T17:04:00.001-05:00

4 June 2010 - I donked around in the Beau nooner today to warm up for the $20k gtd on Saturday. Two hands of note.

1/200. I have ~8700 and marginally cover passive villain who limps UTG+1. I make it 600 from MP with JTdd. SB calls, UTG+1 calls, everyone else folds.

Flop (2000) Tc 5d 2d. SB leads for 600, UTG+1 calls, I make it 2700 (too big?). SB folds, UTG+1 calls (?!).

Turn (8000) 5h [Tc 5d 2d]. He checks, I shove 5400 and he folds. Pretty sure I'm happy I didn't turn a diamond.

A few orbits later at 1/200, HJ open-limps 200, I make it 625 from the CO with AsKc, SB who covers my ~12k-ish 3bets to 2500. HJ folds, I eyeball SB who looks kinda queasy. I stack it up and slide it in, he says "call" rather quickly and shows QQ. I brick and go home.

Run good tomorrow. Let's do it.

Fallin' Short

2010-04-25T09:39:00.012-05:00

22/23 April 2010 - Here's a quick rundown of event#2 at the IP Poker Classic. This event was a $230 buy-in with a field of 196 players. First place was $10k and a $10,000 seat to the main event of the WSOP. Any time there's a considerable overlay on the prize pool like that, players come out of the woodwork.

On about the 4th or 5th hand, I open JJ to 125 at 25/50 UTG+1. The action folds to Bert in the SB who calls, and then Mo--who's a very tough player and a regular on the Coast--3bets small to 400 from the BB. Which I really hated. Mo is a very good player and it's just really unlikely he's getting out of line here. I almost just folded because I feel certain his 3bet range in this spot is like QQ+, maybe AK. But I called, of course, as did Bert. The flop was 652r. Bert checked, Mo bet 900 into 1200, I thought for about 5 seconds and folded, and Bert checked-raised to like 3000. Mo thought for a long while and ultimately folded to a likely set from Bert. I guess. Or maybe Bert was just spazzing with 99 or whatever. The hand just felt weird all around.

With a few minutes left at 25/50, the guy to my direct left who had played very few hands and was seemingly tight and knowledgeable, opened UTG to 125. Everyone folded and I peeled red JJ in the BB and called. The flop was J98dd and I checked (I think leading into this board is a better option for a few reasons, but I didn't really think it through before I checked). So he potted 300 and I made it 800. He insta-called and I pegged him for KdKx or AdAx. The 9h turn filled me up and I led for 800. Again, he called very quickly. The 4s river totally bricked and I stopped and thought for a second. The pot was 3500 and I settled on bombing 4200 and hoping he'd hero call thinking I missed my likely bazillion flop draws. He tanked for a long time, then flashed me QThh and mucked. Well that sucked.

After the table broke, I built my stack when I called a button shove with 88 and held vs AQo. Then I won a very large pot AIPF when I opened AA to 925 at 200/400 (50a) and this older regular who I recognized from several events snap3bet me to 2500 from the button with ~25bbs back. When it got back to me I shoved very quickly and he called it off with AKo and I held. Then I endured a long spell of awkward stacks and bad cards that forced me to do a lot of folding. I took only about 15bbs to the dinner break. After the break I found black 44 in MP2 and shipped 13bbs. The SB--who's an older, loose, gamble-y cash game player--made a smart call with KQo and the board ran out xxxQ4. Bink. That much needed double-up freed me to maneuver and chip up on the bubble.

On the stone bubble, I kinda tooled out and almost busted unnecessarily. With 22 left at 3 tables and 21 getting paid, the action folded to Mo in the SB who covered me. He opened for 7000 at 1500/3000 and when I saw A6cc in the BB I just insta-thoughtlessly-overshipped like 30 bbs and he had me covered. The likelihood was that he was just stealing, but I still hated the fact that I instinctively over-shoved like that instead of doing something else. When Mo started asking me questions, I knew he had a real hand. He tanked for a long time and finally folded what he said was AQo (I seriously, seriously doubt that). But I breathed a sigh of relief nonetheless.

When the bubble broke and we combined to two tables, my stack fluctuated wildly when I called a 15bb shove from the button with A8cc in the BB and his 99 held. This crippled me to like 8 bbs, but I built my stack back by open-shoving at every reasonable opportunity. Then I won this very strange hand with 16 players left. The button limped, the SB completed, and I checked my option with Qs2d in the BB. The flop was an interesting QT9ddd. The SB checked, I checked, and the button shipped his stack (which was like 8 or 9bbs). The SB folded and I couldn't--for the life of me--figure out what the button was doing. I assumed he had one of the thousands of draws (duh) or maybe top pair (duh) and I was trying to correlate it to his PF limp range and his stack size, then I got confused, said "f*ck it" and pressed call. He turned over KJss for the nut straight--whaaaaaattttt??????--and I simply rivered the Jd to bust him. No problem.

Then I spewed some back by raise/folding to awkward stack shoves and 3bets (Raise/folding like this is something I generally would never do in online MTTs, but live it's just a different story ... I'm not going to belabor the point, but I'm fine raise/folding on bubbles with awkward stacks in live MTTs like this one. It's an adjustment that I think is reasonable, instead of rigidly adhering to fundamental guidelines when most players are reacting by playing their two cards instead of situationally. Wait a second, I think I just belabored the point). Anyway, 6-handed, a micro-stack shoved 3bbs UTG and I iso-shoved black 55 two to his left. I'm pretty certain my re-shove folded out two hands that crushed me, but this is a good indicator of how to exploit needless tightness from players trying to sneak into the money or final table. When I turned over my hand, the reactions from the two players who tank-folded were incredulous. At any rate, I busted the dude's KQo. Finally, after playing for over 12 hours we finished playing for the night with 9 players left.

We reconvened for the final table next day, and it didn't go very well. I found myself all-in on the first hand when I shoved over an open with AKo. After I won that hand, I lost every hand I played and ran poorly in two spots when I got it in PF. I ended up finishing a disappointing 8th .... That's it for now. I'm hoping to satellite into the $2k main event later this month.

Thanks for reading.

Sizing Your Pre-Flop Raises in MTTs

2010-04-12T14:26:00.002-05:00

12 April 2010 - After having my interest piqued on a specific topic recently, I put my thoughts into an organized format to state my opinion/approach. Specifically, I'm talking about sizing your opening pre-flop raises in MTTs. This subject seems to generate a variety of opinions and strategies. I'm sure people will disagree or only partially agree. If you think otherwise, I'd love to hear your viewpoint/feedback.

So what’s the best choice? 2x, 2.25x, 2.5x, 3x, 4x, 4.5x, 5x? What’s the goal behind your open-raise sizing pre-flop? Is that goal easily deduced by thinking opponents? Are you maintaining proper balance and consistency? Are you divulging the relative strength of your hand? Are you skewing your range to too few hands? Are you allowing competent opponents to exploit you?

These are all questions you should consider when devising a proper strategy when you’re the first player to open-raise a pot pre-flop.

The simple fact is that, during any level in an MTT, consistently opening for the same amount (2x, 2.25x, 3x, whatever) is the most theoretically optimal strategy as it provides balance for your entire opening range and it prevents competent, thinking players from narrowing your range of hands. For example, if you’re always opening to 1350 at 3/600 (75a), then your opponents won’t know if you’re simply stealing or if you’re at the top of your range with QQ+.

A trend that I notice in MTTs is that players will often open-raise to a smaller amount with the portion of their range they perceive to be very strong (QQ+); this often means a limp, a min-raise, 2.5x, or 3x. On the other hand, I’ll notice these players will opt for larger sizes like 4x-5x at other times. Not only is the larger size unnecessary and wasteful when playing a short/medium stack (20-40 bbs), but the disproportion in open sizes also provides too much information about your opening range and thus allows thinking players to exploit this tendency.

If you’re varying the size of your pre-flop raises when you’re the first to open a pot—that is, if during one orbit at 3/600 you open for 1350 and then during the next orbit you open for 2200—you’re allowing thinking opponents to more easily deduce your range by correlating your opening raise size, your position, your stack depth, your image and your tendencies into a much narrower range of hands. In short, you’re making it easier for thinking players to play against you. Which is, coincidentally, the exact OPPOSITE of what you should be doing.

In my opinion, one of the biggest leaks that even successful players exhibit is opening to different sizes for different ends. The most glaring example is seen in players who open larger (3.5x, 4x, 4.5x, 5x) with the portion of their range they PERCEIVE to be vulnerable, yet strong-ish. Depending upon the player, this might mean 88-JJ, AQ, or even AK. Against observant opponents who note this tendency, the player who inconsistently opens to 4x allows the thinking opponent to generate a more concise range of hands; determine how their specific hand plays vs. that range; and then take the most optimal course of action. This might mean folding, calling, 3betting, or shoving. More specifically, if you frequently open to 4x with {88-JJ, AQo, AQs} and your opponents notice this, they will easily be able to fold hands that your range is dominating and—depending on the depth of stack sizes—they may be able to 3bet/semi-bluff you off of a hand that is a favorite pre-flop. So by opening larger (and inconsistently) in a specific spot, you’ll not only prevent good players from making mistakes against you, but you’ll also allow them to outplay you. Remember, one of the most fundamental goals of poker is to force mistakes from your opponents and capitalize on them. If you’re consistently making mistakes in specific, predictable spots, then you’re going to allow the good players to own you and capitalize on your mistakes.

Furthermore, I frequently notice players opening to larger sizes in an effort to discourage opponents from calling with weaker hands that might outflop them. This is classic “fear of flopping” and its presumed goal—that an opponent folds an inferior hand preflop—contradicts the most basic goal of poker: putting money into the middle when your hand has better equity than that of your opponent’s. Against opponents who solely make pre-flop decisions based on their cards (we’ll call these players “droolers”), opening to an unnecessarily large amount (like 4x) makes no difference from opening 2x. A drooler does not think “well, he opened x amount from early position, my hand doesn’t play well vs. that range, I’ll just fold.” A drooler does not think about the meaning of different sizes or even notice them. A drooler simply sees K5s and says, “I can make a flush, I can make two pair, I can make a strong top pair, I call!” As a result, when you’re outflopped by an opponent who has called your large open with a trash hand, you end up losing a LARGER pot than you otherwise would have. Again, this is another spot where you can avoid from leaking crucial chips. Generally, the only pre-flop raise size that will discourage droolers from calling with trash is a shove. When a drooler says “how much?” before calling, he’s just figuring out how many chips to take from his stack and put in the middle. He’s not thinking about whether it’s 2x or 8x or what that might mean. As an aside, if your goal is to just win the blinds/antes pre-flop without confrontation, an open shove—even as large as 20bb—is the better choice.

Additionally, by inconsistently opening to this larger amount, you’re generating a few sour consequences. One, you’re bloating the pot with a hand you probably don’t feel comfortable playing post-flop (this is probably the reason you opened so large). Two, you’re allowing the competent players at the table to exploit you because they likely know what your raise means, and how to play optimally against you in this exact spot.

To bring us back to the topic of consistency and balance, it’s important to employ a strategy that is both balanced in regards to hand ranges and optimal in regards to consistent sizing. Smaller, consistent raise sizes allow you to periodically steal at less risk with a wider range of hands; this is a crucial aspect to accumulating chips during an MTT and it should be in the arsenal of every player. Also smaller, consistent raises will sometimes induce over-aggressive players to spazz out and 3bet or shove over a small raise that they perceive as either weak or larcenous in nature; this is obviously a joyous result when you have the top of your range.

Again, as you balance your entire range of opening hands with consistent, smaller raises, you’ll be able to play a wider range of hands pre-flop; this in and of itself makes it more difficult for opponents to play against you because they can’t easily deduce your opening range. Second, it allows you to escape cheaply from 3bets/shoves. Third, it potentially induces aggressive opponents to make very costly mistakes against you when you have a strong hand. Fourth, it prevents you from being exploited by observant opponents. And finally, you avoid developing weak habits that limit your ceiling as a player.

So go ahead, give it a try. Implement it. Commit to it. Don’t be scared.

You Feel That Sting?

2010-04-02T12:44:00.009-05:00

1 April 2010 - Because I'm sadistic, here's a rundown of event #7 at the Beau Rivage Spring Poker Classic on April's Fools Day. I want to feel the sting one more time, and then be done with it. 119 players showed up for this $345 buy-in with a first prize of $12k+.

Unlike my event earlier in the week, I found lots of playable spots in this tourney. Within the first 5 or 6 hands, while we're playing shorthanded because players still haven't taken their seats, the action folds to me in the SB and I find red QQ and open for 125 at 25/50. The BB, a mid 20's random white dude, 3bets to 300 for whatever reason and I just call. The flop is Q57cc and I check. He continues for 300 and I c/r to 750. He calls pretty quickly and we see the effectively nutty 5c turn. I lead for 1100, hoping he has something like AKcc, AJcc, ATcc, JTcc, whatever. He just calls and the river is the Jh for Qc 7c 5h 5c Jh. I don't think too much before I barrel 3300 into 4300. He tanks and tanks and finally mucks what he said was AcAd. After thinking it through, I'm pretty sure a betsize of like ~2100 is ideal because it gets value AcAx, KcKx,+ small flushes and it probably induces big flushes and obviously induces JcJx. Interesting hand.

At 100/200, online poker superstar Ben Mintz (riding the wave of a mean heater online) shows up late and takes the 10 seat. From up front, this 40's-ish white guy who's been drinking beers opens for 600. Now I had 3bet this dude three times already for a variety of reasons, and when I look down at AKhh from MP, I decide to just call because .... well .... I just wanted to do something different. 2 other randoms call behind me and Ben 3bets to like 2275 from the SB, leaving about 6k back. The opener folds and I don't really have any other choice but to backraise-4bet-shove here. Which I do. The callers fold, and Ben looks kinda disgusted but calls equally quickly with JJ and the board runs out xxxxA and I now have a healthy 150+bb stack.

After the first break, I gave some back by missing flops, making the second best hand, and doubling up a few shorties. Things continued to go south for several levels after that. By the time the dinner break came around, the field had shrunk significantly and I had dribbled down to 20bbs. After dinner I quickly found myself nursing ~17 bbs before I doubled with JJ vs AK on the very, very sick QT3J3. Then I busted someone with QQ vs AQcc, and finally I busted two players with AK vs TT and 33 on xxxxA. By 1500/3000 (400a) with 19 players left, I had run my stack to 100k+ (with the average at 62k), which was good for like the 4th biggest stack. Then I busted very painfully.

In the BB at 1500/3000, the button limps and the SB (who covers) limps and I check my option with 85dd. The flop is K46r and it goes check-check-check. The super-sweet 7h nizzles me on the turn and the SB leads out for 4000. I think for just a second and make it 10k hoping to get value from some trashy K or stupid 7. The button folds and the SB insta-overships and I snapcall. He turns over 77 for a turned set and promptly rivers quads and sends me packing. And man it f*cking hurt. From chiplead to bye-bye in one fell swoop. 9.5 hours for nada. As many times as it's happened, the beats still continue to sting. I guess when it doesn't hurt anymore, I'll know it's time to leave.

Thanks for reading.

A Little Bit of Torment

2010-03-30T09:05:00.011-05:00

29 March 2010 - I played the Monday nooner at the Beau Rivage Spring Break Poker Classic, which was a $235 buy in with a first place of around $11k. I'm not too sure why I'm even recounting it here because it was really, really uneventful and borderline painful. It took me until 300/600 (75a) to get dealt a pair. In the 7 levels I played, I didn't once see any semblance of a big Ace and I spent the large majority of my day folding. Instead of being happily distracted by my ipod (which I found uncharged when I tried to turn it on akjhdksadhfkjhdsakjfhkjhdsafk), I was forced to listen to the familiar drones of lame poker cliches and bad strategy being bantered about at the table. You know the drill. "Aces .... man, you either win a small pot or lose a big one!" .... "I hate jacks" .... "those Kings are Ace magnets, every damn time." But anyway ......

Early on, I mostly folded and defended my blinds a few times. After being extremely dormant, I finally opened 76dd UTG to 225 at 50/100. I got called in two spots and flopped a flush on QJ5ddd. I led for 525 and everyone folded. Awesome. After my first table broke, I continued to muck the rubbish that was sent my way and periodically stayed afloat by shipping over the limpers in multiway pots.

I then got a table change at 3/600 (75a) when my stack had dipped under 10bbs at ~5100. 3 players limped my BB and I looked at K9o and checked my option. On a flop of Kxx, I open-shoved, got called by KT and promptly houdini'd the 9s on the turn. About 5 or 6 hands later, I got busted. After some random limptard limped up front, I peered down at red QQ from MP2 (finally a pair!! yay!). I raised to 1825 and this mid 50's white dude with a 'stache and a "Gold Strike" polo shirt two to my left snap3bet to 4000. Come on already ... these dudes 3bet ranges are so freaking narrow but whatever. The limp-tard then says "how much?" and proceeds to cold call two raises OOP. Uh, ok. With about 10k back, I immediately ship it in. The white dude 5bet shoves it (i'm toast) and then the limptard goes into the tank for like 2 minutes. In a hall of fame moment, he turns up JTo says "I know I'm live, but I guess I'll fold" and mucks his hand. The white dude turned over AA and I went bye-bye.

Hoping to make it back for a few more shots and a mega or two. Good luck and thanks for reading.

3Betting OOP Without a Solid Plan

2010-02-26T07:23:00.010-06:00

26 February 10 - I feel compelled to post something poker-specific as I've been apathetic about generating poker content lately. Anyway, here's a spot in a low-stakes donkament where I 3bet without much of a plan and found myself in an interesting/weird spot.

Poker Stars $8.00+$0.80 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t50/t100 Blinds + t10 - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

SB: t2310 M = 9.62
Hero (BB): t3465 M = 14.44
UTG: t4700 M = 19.58
UTG+1: t11320 M = 47.17
UTG+2: t2455 M = 10.23
MP1: t6050 M = 25.21
MP2: t1308 M = 5.45
CO: t13505 M = 56.27
BTN: t2590 M = 10.79

Pre Flop: (t240) Hero is BB with T T
UTG calls t100, 5 folds, BTN raises to t300, 1 fold, Hero raises to t1075, UTG raises to t4690 all in, BTN calls t2280 all in

I 3bet here with the intention of calling the UTG shove, or just executing a go/go if I got called. Maybe I should just be shoving here? I wasn't really concerned with the button because his range is probably super-wide here; though if he's a good player, since his stack is short, it might tighten up his overall range meaning that there would be no disparity in the range that he opens and the range that he calls a shove with since his stack is less than 25bbs. But we can't know that for sure, so we're not going to assume it.

At any rate, I found myself conflicted after the 4bet shove/call sequence in front of me. There are several considerations here, but most important is that I've invested 1/3 of my stack with a hand as strong as TT. Secondly, and equally important, is my equity at this point. I'm getting a huge price to call - over 2.6:1, which means I need just a bit less than 28% equity to make the right decision.

So against the ranges below, which are most likely too tight, this is what my equity looks like. Again, factoring tighter ranges will give us an equity snapshot in the worst case scenario if I call:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 27.984% 27.86% 00.12% 5224834152 22665864.00 { TT }

Hand 1: 36.008% 33.42% 02.59% 6266175192 486032160.00 { JJ+, AQs+, AQo+ }

Hand 2: 36.008% 33.42% 02.59% 6266175192 486032160.00 { JJ+, AQs+, AQo+ }

So obviously, I should be calling here. If you widen those ranges in just the least bit, it's a simple decision.

In retrospect, the two factors in this hand are: 1) how to best play TT in this exact scenario pre-flop; 2) now that I've made my pre-flop decision--optimal or not--what's the best decision now?

Both answers seem pretty obvious now. #1) shove pre: shove b/c I can increase my stack by almost 20% if I just scoop the pot pre-flop; shove b/c my hand is strong, but flop-vulnerable and b/c I'm out of position; shove pre b/c of my stack size. And #2) call now. even though it looks gross, and the dude UTG is repping AA/KK/AK and the button called, I have too much equity against their ranges to fold. Also remember that I've invested 1/3 of my stack, and folding now with a hand as strong as TT, is basically atrocious. Especially in a low-stakes donkament.

Thanks for reading. Hope this was helpful.

A Random PSA

2010-02-22T14:48:00.001-06:00

22 February 10 - Here's a cheery message for the day, in case anyone is interested.

Champs

2010-02-10T09:14:00.003-06:00

10 February 10 - Drew Brees greatness + Tracy Porter clutchness = Super Bowl Magic.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2010-01-28T22:49:00.001-06:00

29 January 10 - Not much to say. Enjoy!

Year-End Review

2009-12-24T00:01:00.015-06:00

24 December 2009 - So 2009 is officially in the books, poker-wise. It was a weird year for me and I feel like, despite what I perceived as tremendous growth, I left a lot of goals unrealized. And I didn't win anything meaningful. And that's what it's all about: winning. It's the only thing that matters. It's not about silver linings or moral victories or whatever. It's only about winning.

For the first time since I started playing poker in 2001, I played virtually no cash games. That's hard for me to believe--especially considering I was only a cash player until 2008--but when reviewing my records for the year, I did not have one cash session recorded. Which means, if I played cash at all, it was done so sparingly that I didn't even bother to record it. I guess I played a few sessions, but I don't really remember. As for MTTs, I finished on the +side but just barely. Is it "the black"? I always get that red/black accounting terminology confused (apparently so too does the gov't, wall street, hedge funds, the automobile industry, and our healthcare infrastructure. way to go america!). Anyway, I managed to win a little but a marginal winning/breakeven year certainly feels like a losing year to me.

In live tourneys, I finished down $465. My best stretch of the year was a one week stretch in March where I chopped the $15k gtd Beau; then won/chopped the first nightly at the Beau Spring Break Poker Classic; then disappointingly finished 13th in event #2 of the same series (I blogged about it here). My worst stretch was basically the rest of the year! Excellent.

This year, I made the transition to primarily focusing on online poker; it's a transition I'm still making and learning about in a number of ways. Regardless of the results--and they have been positive--I feel I've learned so much this year by playing online. I'm regretful it took me so long to make the move, but better late than never. In the end, I logged only about 1000 total hours and 56,000+ hands online. This translates to averages of 80+hrs/month and 4600+hands/month. I can obviously do much, much better than this in terms of volume; my main problem was enduring long stretches where I rarely played. I both started and finished strong, but there were too many gaps in between as this aggregate hand charts reflects:

Some other noteworthy online stats:

I finished in the money 19.75% of the time
I played 552 total tournaments online
I final-tabled 15 tourneys (almost 3%)
The average field size I played was 2980 (hello low stakes!)
My best field size:finish ratios were 2213:2, 5967:9, 2452:8.
My ROI was in the 33% range (I compile the data myself so I'm not exactly sure I'm calculating the ROI correctly)
My longest stretch without cashing was 24 tourneys
My best consecutive streak of cashes was 5 tourneys
And my favorite stat is that I deposited ONCE and grew my online bankroll by following simple bankroll management principles!

I also compiled some other stats from my final month of playing that spanned 60 tournaments to see what I might learn. This is obviously a small sample so it might not be completely relevant, but in reviewing the data/hand histories I learned that:

38% of the time, I got my money in good (gulp)
my average equity when all-in was 39.8% (uh oh)
three times I was all-in drawing stone dead (wtf)
27% of the time, I got all-in postflop (my equity was always significantly better in these 16 occurrences)
needless to say, I had a losing month as those are some seriously ominous, donktastic stats!

Ok, that's it for now. I'm looking forward to eating/drinking for the next 10 days! I'm also eagerly anticipating the Saints postseason run to the Super Bowl. That's the only Christmas present I'll ever need for the rest of my life. Enjoy the holidays and thanks for reading.

Well Fed

2009-11-29T08:21:00.008-06:00

29 November 09 - Last Wednesday I played the weekly tourney at Harrah's and finished 9th of 75. It was an interesting sequence of events as the structure of the tourney completely fell apart when we made the final table.

With somewhere around 370,000 total chips in play, the blinds were 5/10,000 at 9-handed. With no stack bigger than 60k, and all the remaining stacks hovering around the average, we discussed a chop for 8x buyin but two players refused (first place was 20x buyin, second place 13x buyin, 3rd place 9x buyin). It seemed very reasonable to chop at this point, but to no avail. Alas, I went out 9th when AK whiffed vs TT. As for this specific tournament, my poker colleague Bill recommends a strategy that I found interesting and relevant. You can read about it here.

*******************************************************************************

On Thursday/Friday, I spent the better part of my waking hours eating and drinking. The food was unreal and I just can't imagine finding better food anywhere than what we make down in South Louisiana. Thursday's menu was littered with two fried turkeys, sausage dressing, oyster dressing, brabant potatoes, dirty rice, and an insane dessert spread that contained apple pie, pumpkin pie, toll house pie, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownies, and lemon bars. Just reeeeeeediculous.

On Friday, it got better with a six-hour feeding fest of boudin, another fried turkey, fried oysters, chicken/andouille gumbo, french bread, and many beers. This meal, if that's what you want to call it, was one of the better days of eating I can ever recall. The oysters, fried in the remnants of the turkey oil, were absolutely sublime.

*******************************************************************************

So I decided to finish off the week with the Saturday tourney at the Beau. I was hoping for 3 consecutive final tables in a week and I got off to a great start. I quickly ran my stack from 6k in 12k in two levels when I made a flush with TT, and then turned a set/rivered a boat with JJ. Unfortunately, I soon lost ~25% of it when, with QJcc, I flopped KT5cc but missed all of my outs on the turn/riv. In the 4th level at 150/300 (25a), I got moved to a new table and things quickly went to shit. With my stack ~10k, I got it in for 4.5k effective with KK against QQ and lost (turned set). Then a bit later with my stack ~5.5k, I got almost all of it in with 88 vs 77 and lost again (rivered set). I finally busted soon thereafter when I was all in for my remaining 1.5bbs.

So that's that. Pretty good week all things considered. Looking forward to Monday night's showdown vs the Pats. I really hope our secondary can hold up.

A Little Short

2009-11-23T08:23:00.008-06:00

23 November 09 - I played the $15k gtd on Saturday at the Beau and finished 5th of 92. Regardless of the satisfaction of making the final table, it's always frustrating to come up short. I battled and grinded most of the day as I was shortstacked and card-dead for almost the entirety of the tournament. Down to two tables, at 8/1600, I had blinded down to 10k and then went on my only rush of the day to finally build a stack: AQ > AJ; my TT held against a random button shove (the always scary K5); got it in pre again with AQhh against A9cc and flopped the stone nuts; then finally, after opening 66, flopped Q6x against AQ and arrived at the final table with 85k, which was maybe 3rd in chips at the time.

Once we were 5 handed, things quickly went sideways and I lost 3 almost-consecutive hands to bust. The bust hand came up at 2/4000 when I shoved over a button open from the BB with JJ, got called from the button with 66, and was promptly outflopped by quads. At least I went out in style! ...

I'm anticipating playing the 11a Wed weekly at Harrah's this week, so I'll be trying hard for back-back final tables as I hope to build some momentum to end the year.

*************************************************************************************************************

After the tourney, I meandered to NOLA and spent a fun night at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in the Quarter. Lafitte's is renowned for being the longest continually operating bar in the country, as well as being one of the oldest still-standing buildings in NOLA, having been built sometime in the 1700's. There is barely any electricity in the place, and it is almost fully illuminated by candlelight which generates a very cool vibe. This is certainly not a tourist-trap and is populated mostly by local residents. Very cool place and highly recommended.

Buried Alive

2009-10-31T17:04:00.002-05:00

31 October 09 - Today's event at the IP ended in an ugly fashion for me. Early on, I picked up several pots being very active and making some hands. I then lost a good portion of my stack near the end of level 1 when I opened 75ss to 150 from the button and got called by the BB. The flop was 553dd, he checked, I bet 225 into 325 and he called. The turn was an offsuit 6, he checked, I bet 625, and he check-raised to 1625. Now I've played with this guy before and he's a good player, but he's also one of those "i'm gonna outplay you/i put you on AK" type of guys who won't fold easily and who do random, spastic-aggressive shit. So I decided to just call. The river bricked an offsuit J and he led for 2500. I basically called immediately and he showed 74 for a turned straight. Guess I could've found a fold on the river, but I didn't have the discipline nor did I think I was beat. I dunno .....

With a healthy dent in my stack, I fought back and built it back up to 9k-ish when I busted. At 100/200 (25a), this mid 20's dude who was clearly an internet player and super-solid--and also a guy I played with on Thursday--opened the CO to 525. In the SB, this 50's-ish white guy called. In the BB, I peeled red JJ and squeezed to 2150. I felt 90% sure the internet dude would fold, though I had no read on the older guy. But you know, if he's anything like his demographic, I don't need much of read .... So the internet dude folds pretty quickly, the SB peers over at my stack and says "what do you have left?", and I say "7200". He immediatelty says "all-in" and he has me covered. Now at this point, I had NOT planned on him 4bet shoving; I was prepared to snap-call the internet dude who might 4bet shove light b/c he thinks I'm squeezing light. But the SB is another story.

Now at this point the math/equity certainly matters, but it's gross because this guy has QQ a lot here. If he sees me 3betting light, he's going to just ship his hand instead of just call and play non A/K flops. If he shows me AK, then I should obviously be calling. Also, once I 3bet 22% of my stack, I almost always have to go with it b/c otherwise I just turned a strong hand into a bluff. But either way, I am uncomfortable here. At this point, the pot is 12,250 and I have to call off my last 7,200. Which means I'm getting 1.7:1 so I need 37% equity. Against TT+,AKs,AKo, I have 43% equity. Against QQ+,AKo,AKs, I have 36% equity so it's a super close spot. Which I basically know intuitively regardless of the math.

After agonizing a bit, and basically delaying the inevitable call, I called and he showed AKdd. Which was good for obvious reasons. The flop was Qxx ..... turn T ..... river J. Bam and I'm out. For a 100bb pot. That one really hurt and I don't think I've ever bolted out of a poker room faster in my entire life.

So that's that. Probably will be back next week ....

Rising from the Dead

2009-10-30T07:33:00.024-05:00

30 October 09 - I played the first event at the IP's WSOP Satellite Tournament Series yesterday. The turnout was a disappointing 133 players for the noon event, and I finished an equally disappointing 40th after getting off to a great start. I was really surprised at the disparity in turnout; recently, most of the Beau's opening events have generated large fields of 500+ while this one barely cracked 100. Odd, especially considering the IP in general looks excellent; the tournament area was laid out nicely; and the structure was good. 8k chips, 40 min levels, and 9-handed play throughout. With 9-handed tables, we spent a good amount of time playing 7 and 8-handed as the field shrunk. This is especially important because not only does it provide more overall hands to play, but it also allows you to adjust hand requirements/ranges and exploit the players who are still playing as if they were playing 9/10 handed.

My day got off to a strong start when I flopped 4's full halfway through the first level, and got paid off by 6x. ((i'm going to go through this hand below)). Awhile later, I turned the nuts with AQ on KJx when I peeled the turn and got paid on both a turn c/r and a river v-bet. Then I gave some of it back with red 88 on AK8ss. I bet the flop and turn, and was check-called by this loose, wide, aggressive, never-fold type of guy. When the third spade hit the river, he said "check", I said "set", he said "damn", and then he flipped up 53ss for a rivered flush. I guess he thought I was going to bet the end there (prob should've to get value from Ax, but this isn't the type of guy to c/call two streets when he flops an A); I guess he realized I would have likely called the river had he bet it. He is certainly not the guy you fold sets to, unless of course, you hate money.

I then got it all back from him when he opened TT UTG and I called with AQhh from the CO. The flop came AQJr and he insta-open-shipped his stack and I held for a nice pot. After that, I cooled down a bit and did a lot of folding. It was looking like I was going to be on a nice little heater all day, but unfortunately it slowed down. By 3/600, I had dribbled to 30 BBs and then lost a few key pots. I rivered the nut straight with JTo in position on a K97x8, three heart board. I inflated the pot by betting the flop after it went check-check to me, then couldn't pull the trigger on shoving the turn when I was 90% certain I was up against 2 draws or maybe 1 draw/1 weak KT-ish type hand. So I check-backed the turn, and the 8h rivered (completing the flush). After a white, middle-aged rock led into the river, and then the other white, middle-aged rock called, I begrudingly mucked my hand faceup (my 'fish' move of the day!) and they, of course, both had flushes.

Then I lost another pot soon after when I opened KJo from the CO, got called by the BB with a big stack. He checked 346r, I continued for half-pot, and he owned me with a c/r all in that I obviously folded to. With ~17 BBs at 4/800, I opened AJhh UTG and crusty, old Bert shipped ~11 BBs from the button. I wept a little bit and then called and he turned over AQo and held ... On a side note, in this kind of tourney/field, I think it's probably just better to open-ship in this exact scenario. With the way the players react to shoves, you're going to fold out so many hands (that you want folded) that would otherwise "call and see a flop" - mid pairs, random broadways, random Aces. Also, a shove of this size may even fold hands as strong as AQ/AK/JJ depending on the player, especially the old nit-rocks ... At any rate, I was finally sent packing when I open-shoved my remaining stack with QJo and ran it into AKss.

*****************************************************************************

I'm going to run through a hand, and offer some discussion along with it if anybody cares. So very early on at 25/50 with 8k stacks, I peel 44 UTG and limp. Three others limp behind, both blinds come along, and six of us see a flop of 466. Both blinds check, I lead for 125 into 300, two of the limpers fold, the button raises to 300, and both blinds fold. I vaguely "know" the guy on the button. I've played 5-10 tourneys with this guy and he always shows up to the regional circuit events and what-not. He's in his mid 30's, and plays very slowly and in my opinion, pretty damn tight. This guy does not get out of line, and he plays very cautiously. I'm not really sure how he perceives me, so I'm not going to confuse the issue trying to guess at it and complicate things.

So when he raises me on the flop, I am giving him credit for a hand. Before I decide how to respond to his raise, I want to assign a range based on my read of him, his pre-flop limp and his flop raise. So I can pretty easily give him pairs like {55-99} that he thinks are the best hand here that he wants to iso heads-up so he can play the turn/riv in position (also pretty sure he just calls with quads, so we can forget about 66 and if he does have it, well, so be it); the rest of his raising range is lots of random 6's {A6s, A6o, 86s, 76s, 76o, 65s, 65o}. Maybe even more 6's, but those are the main ones. So with all that in mind, I just call his raise because I don't want to tool out and reveal the strength of my hand.

The turn is the As and I am concerned b/c that hits his range and potentially coolers me. So I decide to check and just control the pot (yes, odd as it sounds, I am controlling the pot with a boat! i guess this might be wrong, i don't know). I basically want to control the pot here b/c I want to continue to get value from the range I beat, and minimize the damage from the range that coolers me. After I check, he bets 800 into 900 and I call pretty quickly. The river is the 8h, another card that hits his range {88, 86s} and coolers me. So now I have to decide on the best course of action here. There's 2500 in the pot, we both have less than 3 PSB's (pot sized bets) behind, so we are not considerably deep. I am not crazy about going broke here either.

With all of that said, my options on the river are: 1) bet/call; 2) check/call; 3) bet/fold (and, no I am not listing open-shoving as possibility here). I really hate line #1 because I seriously, seriously doubt this dude ever raises me here with a worse hand. Only spastic, aggressive, horrible donkeys (also known as Europeans) would raise 6x here. Line #2 is ok, it's definitely safe, but the flaw in it is that I lose value from 6x hands that check-back and that I am both lost and exploitable if he slams the riv with a big bet. So I decide on line #3. Bet and fold if he raises me. Which I'm realllllllly hoping doesn't happen. So I lead for 1200 into 2500 because this seems like the best size to get value from 6x (people, even good players, do NOT like to ever fold trips); if he raises me, I guess I'm moving forward with my plan of folding. Predictably, he doesn't do anything fast. After about 2 agonizing minutes, I figure I'm good and he just calls. I say "boat", he says "you're good", and then shows the 6d as he mucks. Interesting hand. Any thoughts? And for the record, I will be on the lookout for any of you out there trying to bluff me off a boat!

I also wanted to discuss playing/betting/getting value from big hands and balancing that with deception. But this post is long enough, so I'll save that topic for another time. Good luck to everyone out there playing the IP.

Oh yeah ...

Who Dat!?!

Lunatic Fringe

2009-09-16T15:47:00.012-05:00

16 September 09 - My form on SharkScope is listed as "Super Tilt". Luckily, it makes me laugh. But scarily, it doesn't factor in my live results. I haven't won a damn thing for three straight months, online or live. In fact, I've barely cashed anything. In the grand scheme of things, three months is a short period of time and I know the brutality can last much, much longer. But for the first time in my life, the wicked wrath of Saint Variance is making me certifiably daft. I'm on the precipice of insanity. I shaved my hair into a mohawk. I'm in the fast lane of a torturous, warped, endless highway where the bugs are crawling in my eyes, and the beats are coming at me from all angles, and I can't win to save my fucking life, and the madness is pervasive and ubiquitous, and the antidotes are placebos, and the remedies are elusive, and ahhhhhhhhhhhh.......... Tiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllllllllltttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the lunacy prevails. But the downswing can't. And in the meantime, my bankroll trend looks like a demented, vomit-inducing roller coaster designed by some crazed acid freak in the midst of a Bret Easton Ellis-inspired, month-long bender.

Tequila, anyone?

Dorking It Up

2009-08-26T13:48:00.030-05:00

26 August 09 - I've been feeling semi-guilty for not posting any poker content recently, but nothing has seemed interesting or worthy, and I'm not going to post some nonsensical drivel just for the sake of posting. With that said, I played an interesting hand this weekend that I recently discussed with a buddy and thought it would be worthy of review here.

Disclaimer: I'm about to seriously dork it up with math and everything and this is going to be long and detailed, so be forewarned. I felt like indulging the readers of GCP with some serious mathed-out dorkness in a hand that I found to be most interesting. Enjoy.

25/50, about 20 minutes into the first 30 minute level of the Saturday guarantee at the Beau this past weekend. I haven't yet played a hand. From MP2, I open black JJ to 150. The button calls and both blinds come along. Pot 600.

The flop is 732, all diamonds. Both blinds check, I pot it for 600 (which may or may not be the best sizing, but that's for another day). The button min-raises to 1200 and both blinds fold. I peripherally know the dude on the button; he's in his mid 50's, he plays in the big cash games at the Beau, and I view him as basically straightforward, basically tight, and maybe even semi-fishy. He also knows me and talks to me from time to time. I'm pretty sure he sees me as a tight player.

So first things first. What do we think of his range? What do we think his min-raise means? His range is kinda wide here and can include {sets 77, 33, 22}, {small/mid flushes}, {Aces/broadways with one diamond}, {overpairs to the board with one diamond}, but probably not the nut flush. The main consideration in narrowing his range is to interpret what exactly the min-raise means. Why is he min-raising me?

So the pot is now 2400 and my options are to call 600, shove for his last 3850 (I have him covered), or just muck. Folding seems weak, if not absurd, but it's probably not out of the question either. Calling seems easy b/c I have an overpair and I'm getting 4:1, but how am I going to handle various turns OOP when there are an assload of bad turn cards for my hand? Shoving seems weird because when we get called, our equity is trash. And it seems like hands that raise this flop won't fold too often to a 3bet shove. But maybe the min-raise is informational in nature and he is giving himself room to fold (leaving himself a still playable stack) if I indeed 3bet shove. Finally the min-raise could be inducive in nature, specifically meaning that he is giving me the illusion that he will fold to a shove and is thus inducing me to shove on him because he has a big hand. Again, the main consideration among all this nonsense is simply our read of the opponent. What does he most likely have, why is he taking this course of action, and what does it mean in relation to our hand?

Before I continue on with my decision in the hand, let's look at what happens if we decide to shove the black JJ. What do you think intuitively? Here's what the math tells us:

After he min-raises, the pot is 2400 and he has 3850 behind. So if I shove, I'm contributing 600 (calling his raise) + 3850 (his remaining stack). If he calls it off, the total pot will be 10,700. So we are risking 4450 to win 10,700 which means we have 41.5% equity in the pot, so we need just about 42% equity vs. his range to make it +cEV long-term. If he calls our shove with a range consisting of {sets}, {lots of flushes}, {overpairs TT+ with a lone diamond, but excluding AA/KK} (doesn't he 3bet these pre most of the time?), and {AKo/AQo combos with a lone diamond} then our equity vs. that stated range is 21.6%. Which is nowhere near close to the 41% stake we own in the pot now. So it's bad, which we probably already know intuitively. If we shove here and get called, we're really fucked ... But we haven't factored in our expectation for the times he folds to our shove. Remember that the min-raise might mean he folds to a shove. So let's get a complete expectation of what happens when we shove because he's not calling our shove 100% of the time. Sometimes he folds and we win the pot, and that's a good result, but does it happen often enough to compensate for the times we're called and wayyyyyy behind?

Hang in there, it's about to get dorkier. So to figure out our expectation when we shove, we need to determine:

1. His raising range on the flop - specifically what overall percentage of hands this represents
2. His shove-calling range - specifically what overall percentage of hands this represents
3. The percentage of times he calls our shove; the percentage of times he folds to our shove
4. Our hand's equity vs. his shove-calling range; his range's equity vs our hand

So for (1), his raising range is likely to include {sets}, {lots of non-nut flushes} (against said opponent, i think he just calls the flop and then moves on the turn with the nut flush the vast majority of the time), {lots of overpairs to the board}, and {lots of broadways and big aces with a lone diamond}. This range equates to 5.1% of all hands. For (2), his shove-calling range is what we listed above and that equates to 3.8% of hands. So for (3), this means that he calls our shove 74.5% of the time and folds to our shove 25.5% of the time. For (4), again as stated above, our hand has 21.6% equity against his shove-calling range. Which means that his range's equity vs. our hand is 78.3%. So to complete the calculations of our EV...

>> 2400 [the pot we win when he folds to our shove] * .255 [%age of times he folds to our shove] = +612
>> ((6250 [the amount we net when we shove, he calls, we win] * .745 [%age of times he calls us]) * .216 [our equity vs his shove-calling range])) = +1006
>> ((3850 [the amount we lose when we shove, he calls, we lose] * .745 [%age of times he calls us] * .783 [his range's equity vs. our hand])) = -2246

(+612) + (+1066) + (-2246) = -568. So we can see this is a MASSIVELY -cEV decison to 3bet shove black JJ on the flop. Which, again, we already knew intuitively. If you happen to still be reading this, I know what you're saying. "You just did all of that bullshit to realize that it's bad to shove there?" Well, yes I did. But that's not the point. The real point is that there's an empirical way to solve the problem and when spots are close, this really really helps... And I did this for another reason, which you'll see later on...

***************************************************************************

Back to the hand. I just called the min-raise (of course I wasn't 3bet donk-shoving there!). The pot is now 3000. Again, he has 3850 behind and I have him covered. The turn pairs the board with a black 3 and I check to him. He smacks the pot for 2500 ... What do I do now, and what have we learned about his hand range with all of the information we've accumulated thus far? We know he's called a raise in position PF, min-raised the flop, and smacked the turn. How do we narrow his range from this set of circumstances? First of all, I'm now confident in eliminating sets from his range. If he had a set on the flop, doesn't he raise more to protect his hand from another diamond coming off? Further, doesn't he either check-back his now made boat on the turn or at least bet smaller? Second, I think we can mostly eliminate big Aces/broadways with a lone diamond because doesn't he usually check-back and take the free draw? Remember, he knows I have some sort of hand at this point. So third, what does he smack the turn with? Likely, either {non nut flushes} or {overpairs 88-QQ with a lone diamond}. Can we narrow it even further? I think so. We can probably take the {non-nut flushes} out his range due to his bet sizing on the flop. Doesn't he raise more to protect his hand there? I think he does.

So taking into account his entire possible range based on my reads, and then narrowing based on his flop/turn actions, it looks most like {88-QQ with a lone diamond}. PF, he's mostly 3betting KK/AA so I'm eliminating those from his range. On the flop he's "seeing where he's at" with the min-raise. Now that I passively called the flop, he think he's ahead. So when the turn basically bricks, he smacks the pot to now protect his hand. Likely, he thinks I have AK/AQ with a diamond and he's trying to win the pot now. And betting 2500 instead of shoving his remaining stack looks much stronger. If he thinks shoving the turn might appear weak, then he takes the risk of getting called lighter. Which if he has a marginal strength hand, he doesn't want to have happen. All of this reinforces his range to be {88-QQ with a lone diamond}. It's a vulnerable hand to AK with a diamond, but he wants it to look strong so I'll go away.

So now when he bets 2500, the pot is 5500 and he has 1350 behind. If I decide to shove now, I'm shoving 3850 to win 10,700. Which means I now only need greater than 36% equity vs. his hand range to make it a profitable play. Obviously, he never folds when we shove here. But if our now-improved read of his hand range is correct, then we have 60% equity vs that range. Which, oddly enough, means shoving is hugely profitable now. Remember all that math before? It told us that shoving the flop was massively unprofitable. But with what we've learned, 3bet shoving the turn--even with no fold equity factored in--is still very profitable. Again, this is all dependent on our reads and range assignments. But if those are close to accurate, then the decision is clear cut on both the flop and turn.

In the actual hand, I folded the turn. Obviously all of this analysis is impossible during a hand... I decided at the time, it was a bad spot to continue especially considering it was still the first level of the tournament. But after going through all of this with a buddy (thanks Phillip), I have a different opinion now. I found it especially interesting that shoving the flop was terrible, but that shoving the turn was probably good. Weird.

If you read all of this, congrats and I'm sorry.

Later.

Airball

2009-08-02T09:22:00.006-05:00

2 Aug 09 - Well, I airballed the $20k at the Beau yesterday. There was a pretty solid turnout of 85-ish players and 1st place was a healthy $7,700. I felt really good going into the tournament yesterday, but it didn't work out...

I literally played 6 hands in 5 levels. I played AKdd at 50/100, 3bet an MP open from the button, c-bet an all-black flop that I completely whiffed, checked back the turn, and folded to a lead OTR. From there, I folded everything for 2 levels because it was just completely unplayable, as was my awkward stack. Finally with my stack vacillating in the 10-13 bb threshold, and with antes in play, I went into shove mode and it worked great. I shipped over a few limpers with A2ss; I open-shoved TT; and I open-shoved from the CO with A4o. Then finally, I shoved 99 from the CO and the BB, this mid-50's dude who was apparently worn-down from many years at the poker table, who was playing predictably tight and also periodically weak, looks down at his cards and starts agonizing. After some deliberation, he folds AJss faceup and says "you can have it, buddy." Which leads me to...

Having played so many hands online over the last two months, I made a mental note prior to the trny to adjust the volatility meter in the proper spots. I don't really feel like elucidating the minutiae of this point, but I basically mean that in some spots you have to play more aggressively than you might online, and in some spots you have to play less aggressively than you normally would. Different 'norms' prevail, and your spot-specific optimal play will vary depending on the medium. So in this trny for example, open-shoving 10-13 bbs is so hugely profitable because no one will call with anything except for the absolute PEAK of their range. I mean, you're basically getting called by TT+, AQo+ mayyyyybe. It's crazy how much (gasp!) fold equity (just for you, Kai!) one can flex. That's all I have to say about that...

So back on point, I built my stack back to ~22bbs when I busted. Dude to my right who may or may not have been a clown, open-shoved ~14bbs UTG. UTG+1, I looked down at JJ and re-shoved my stack. Unfortunately, the button called both shoves with AKo, flopped a K, and that was that (UTG shover had J8dd). It was a standard outcome in an otherwise non-descript day.

I'll be back for the Gulf Coast Poker Championships in September, and until then I'll be banging out as many hands as possible online. Good luck and thanks for reading.

WSOP Television Coverage

2009-07-28T10:52:00.004-05:00

28 July 09 - ESPN's coverage of the 2009 WSOP starts tonight from 7p-9p CST. The $40k NLHE event is being broadcast. Should be an interesting watch.

Nothing much else to report on. I've been playing tons of hands online. I had a pretty brutal weekend but it's really no big deal. The main consideration is volume and I'm pleased with the amount I've been putting in.

I'm planning to be at the Beau on Sat for the $20k. Really looking forward to that. Hope to see a big turnout.

Later.

November 9 Predictions

2009-07-15T08:16:00.012-05:00

15 July 09 - The main event at the WSOP is down to the final 27. They'll be playing down to the final table today which, for the second year in a row, will be delayed and played in November. So here's a stab at what I think/hope the November 9 will look like this year:

Phil Ivey: goes into today 4th in chips and will be seated to the left of the chipleader, Darvin Moon. It might be a very long day for Mr. Moon as Ivey will certainly be targeting the amateur's stack all day long. Ivey, universally regarded as the best poker player in the world, seems destined to cement his legacy this year.

Jeff Shulman: he is co-owner of CardPlayer with his father, Barry. Jeff was famously bad-beat/coolered from the 2000 WSOP main event final table by eventual champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. In that event, 7-handed with the chip lead, Jeff got Jesus (who was 2nd in chips at the time) all-in with 77 vs 66 and Ferguson flopped a set to stay alive. Shortly after, Schulman ran KK into Ferguson's AA and was sent packing. Here's to hoping that Shulman gets a shot at redemption.

Darvin Moon: the chipleader going into today, Moon is an amateur from Maryland who won his way in through satellite. His is the quintessential WSOP "rags to riches" story. It's also noteworthy that Moon has been sporting a Saints hat all week long. That makes him "root-worthy" in my book.

Antonio Esfandiari: semi-famous poker professional and poker celebrity, Esfandiari would make for an interesting and entertaining final table with his established credentials, loose-aggressive style and outgoing personality.

Billy Kopp: an online professional, Kopp enters the day second in chips and seems poised to make a run at the title. His appearance at the final table would raise the profile of online poker as the ultimate training ground for success in large field, deep-stacked MTT.

Andrew Lichtenberger: maybe the most highly regarded online professional remaining in the field, the young math wizard has been running hot in 2009 and has an excellent chance to make the final 9. On day 6, this humorous exchange was recorded between Lichtenberger and Ivey in one hand:

Andrew Lichtenberger: "If I wear my hat backwards, will it make me look like a badass?"
Phil Ivey: "... Nothing you do will make you look badass."

James Akenhead: the young, London native has been hovering at the top of the leaderboard all week, has a slew of live cashes to his name, and looks to make his second WSOP final table appearance in as many years. He is poised to eclispse the $1,000,000 benchmark in career cashes with his run in this year's WSOP main event.

Ludovic Lacay: I don't know too much about him except for the fact that is considered one of the top 5 French poker players today. His appearance at the final table would continue to grow the game in Europe and keep the international poker economy flush with new $$$.

Leo Margets: obviously a long shot with her very short stack, Ms. Margets is the last remaining woman in the field. As poker continues to attract new demographics, the apperance of a woman at the final table would be great for poker and great for television. Let's hope the attractive, young Spaniard makes it there.

Disclaimer: I actually believe that either Ben Lamb or Jordan Smith will make the final table instead of Margets, but I'm rooting for her.

Edit: I got 4 of 9 correct - Ivey, Shulman, Moon, Akenhead.

A Little Bit of Nothing

2009-07-09T13:02:00.027-05:00

9 July 09 - Here are some nuggets:

>> I'm back to playing a good amount of poker after taking a brief respite to let my mind rest. I've been grinding a lot of hands online in low/micro tourneys and having been showing up with good results over the last two weeks. Also, I've been studying PXF and watching videos which have been really helpful, and provides a nice balance between play and study (thank you, Mr. Sack). My short-term plan is to play as many hands as possible online over the next few months, and then get back into live action during the Gulf Coast Poker Championships at the Beau at the beginning of September. I'm sure I'll be playing a few of the weekend guarantees at the Beau in the interim as well.

>> So, I finally got an iPhone and I have to say that it lives up to the hype! I grinded it out with a brutally old Motorola Razr for like 4 years and, as many of you know, it was essentially non-functional though I continued using it. Now, I can't quit diddling with this gadget (whoa, that sounded kinda dirty).

>> My buddy Tom sent me a link to a great article by New Orleans native Michael Lewis (the author of such recent bestsellers as MoneyBall and Liar's Poker) on AIG and the collapse of the American and international financial system. It was an excellent, though complex, read; if this type of content interests you, I highly suggest reading it. You can find the article here. I would also suggest this article that Lewis penned a few months back on the collapse of Wall Street.

>> Sigh. I don't really feel like ranting about this, but come on. Orrin Hatch. Please just f*ck off you dumb, incompetent, embarrassingly-misguided sh*tface. Does that make my feelings clear? In the face of innumerable mounting challenges to our country, Senator Hatch has decided that the BCS--yes, the Bowl Championship Series that determines the NCAA's annual football champion--needs to be investigated by the justice department for anti-trust violations. Senate hearings on the BCS? Is this for real? It's no f*cking wonder our country is falling apart at the seams. This dipshit is just interested in assuaging his constituents and reassuring his re-election--he hails from the state of Utah, home of the 2008 undefeated Utah Utes' football team that was passed over for the BSC title game this past season. Do something of substance, dude. We have plenty of things for you to focus your attention on, and I'm pretty sure the BCS is at the very bottom of the f*cking list!

I realize (at least I hope) that there is very little chance that the federal government will involve itself with this triviality, but the perception of what Hatch is doing is just embarrassingly bad. It's reminiscent of the CEOs of GM all flying to Washington DC individually on their luxurious, private jets and then having the balls to ask Congress for American taxpayers' money so that they can continue with their white-collar incomptence and abominations. "Please, we need money from hard-working, middle-class Americans so that we can perpetuate our super-rich, super-extravagant lifestyles while continuing to shovel shit on the American automobile industry." Ok, sorry for the tangent. I'm done.

>> In happier news, I fortuitously stumbled onto "Euro Rounders" last night while browsing 2+2. It has been archived but was linked in a thread, and it was humorous. If you're a poker geek and a Rounders fan, I would suggest the short read when you have some time. Really funny to me, but maybe I'm just a poker dork. As far as I can ascertain after some cursory web research, the author is unknown. You can read the piece here.

>> After not cutting my hair for 20 months, I shaved most of it off with a "2" two weeks ago. It was so hot outside, I felt like I was wearing a turban on my head whenever I ventured out.

>> The term "honey do's" really f*cking annoys me. As in, "yeah, the wife gave me a list of 'honey do's' to get done today." Please have some balls and stop saying this. It's bad enough that you have to mindlessly follow a list of bullshit your wife gives you to complete on a regular basis.

>> What's up with the recent trend of people referring to their friends by their Twitter handles? This is so lame. It's especially prevalent on Facebook. In better Twitter-related news, I have really enjoyed the "Star Tweet Tracker" that PokerNews is running on the right sidebar of their "Live Reporting" page for the WSOP main event. Excellent.

>> Can Phil Ivey fully cement his legacy with a WSOP ME win? He has a ton of chips going into day 3, and it really would be incredible to see him win it. Long, long way to go however.

>> And again, I saved the best for last! In honor of another season of the increasingly inane Entourage, here's the insanely gorgeous Emmanuelle Chriqui. Jesus, I feel dizzy.

Emmanuelle Chriqui celebrity profile

Wire-isms, ctd.

2009-07-03T17:15:00.001-05:00

3 July 09 - "It ain't about that paper."

A Poker Update

2009-07-01T09:48:00.004-05:00

1 July 09 - I obviously haven't been playing a heavy schedule of poker recently. Yesterday, I decided to ease myself back into it and grind out some hands in several online micro-donkaments. Interestingly enough, I played more hands yesterday than I have in any single day thus far this year. The total was 1,131 hands. I wish I could do that every day, but I just refuse to play now unless I'm committed to focusing and giving it 100%.

I played in four tourneys ranging in buy-ins from $2.20 to $11. Yes, very non-baller. On the positive side, I made the money in 3 of the 4 tourneys I played. In the nightly $4k Gtd on Stars, I final-tabled from a starting field of 2200+ landmines. Finally nearing 4AM, when I was essentially sleeping through hands, I agreed to a five-handed chop when I was 2nd in chips. On the scale of embarrassing poker moments, this one ranks up there! Chopping a $2 buy-in. Holy christ, what has happened to me?

Regardless, I padded my online roll by almost $500 yesterday so it's all good.

Back later.

Thought For a Day

2009-06-29T21:17:00.002-05:00

29 June 09 - "Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper in the country. If large numbers of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them... Even those who declare themselves to be in favour of freedom of opinion generally drop their claim when it is their own adversaries who are being prosecuted."

- George Orwell, Freedom of the Park

Leftovers

2009-06-23T12:11:00.008-05:00

23 June 09 - First off, the LSU game last night vs. Texas may have taken a year or so off my life. It was an incredible game, and in retrospect, maybe one of the best CWS games played in the history of Omaha. I can't really imagine watching a better baseball game in, say, the next ten years or so. For Texas, they hit a season-high 5 home runs; their best pitcher recorded a season-high 10 k's in less than 6 innings; they were 39-0 this season when leading after 8 innings; and they still lost. LSU scored their last 6 runs with two outs in the 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th innings. Unreal. Not to arm-chair the Texas coach/manager because I don't know anything about baseball, but every one of his pitching moves backfired last night. I wonder if he is getting shelled today in Texas for it? Given his supposedly legendary status, probably not. Now let's hope the Tigers close it out tonight. After last night's madness, this series seems destined for a third game, however.

In other random news, some things rattling around my brain...

>>> Parfait, close your eyes fast. Because I'm going to mention (gasp!), soccer! US vs Spain tomorrow (Wed), 1:25 PM CST on ESPN. Semifinals of the Confederations Cup, an admittedly meaningless soccer event in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, the game should be interesting. Spain hasn't lost an international game in 2.5 years or something stupid like that. They are loaded, but maybe they are due for a shocking upset at the hands of the undermanned Americans.

>>> Why in the hell does the Orkin man wear a helmet in their ads? What in the f*ck? Does he spelunk in his spare time? Is he protecting himself against cranial-boring insects? Does he actually wear this when he comes to your house?

>>> The term 'power tie'. What does that even mean? It just seems so dumb and vacuous. "After I put on my favorite suit, I scoured my tie collection and decided to wear my power tie!" Huh? If you use this term, please stop it immediately.

>>> Listening to random people utter the devastatingly lame phrase 'a watched pot never boils'. Um, yeah it does assh*le. Just sit there and watch it.

>> For you online poker fiends, I watched this early this AM. I found it on a 2+2 thread, and I thought it was interesting. It's basically the story of a young, online poker pro. It's approximately 30 min., and the production value is incredibly high. Apparently, this is the first in a series of "profiles" about online poker pros.

Ok, that's all for now. If I offend anyone out there with my negativity or criticism or whatever, well... that's your problem. I don't mean to personally offend you. And yes, I do still play poker. I'm just sick of playing it and writing about it right now. Back soon (i think).

Etc.

2009-06-21T21:37:00.010-05:00

21 June 09 - I finally got around to watching Gran Torino tonight, and although it started slowly, it was excellent. Classic, vintage Eastwood. Punctuated by raw, racial overtones. Bound by the transformational, redemptive spirit of the individual. After all these years, Eastwood still has his fastball.

A Bad Day of Poker

2009-06-14T22:49:00.015-05:00

13 June 09 - Here's a sequence of 3 hands from the $10k on Saturday. It's really just an analysis of and history behind the one spot where I made my biggest mistake of the day.

Part 1 - the background
At 25/50, I limp the button with KJo in a 5-handed pot. The flop is J8xr and some random guy leads into it for 200. The dude to my right calls, and I just call as well ((i don't really see too much value in raising here, but i might be wrong, and if i am i would love some insight)). So the turn is a weird 9 and the random checks, but the dude to my right in the CO leads for 600 into 850. Now first of all, I know this guy. I've played maybe 4 or 5 cash sessions with him, and I see him in the poker room a lot. This is the first time I've encountered him in a tourney so I don't really know what to expect. My overall read on him is aggressive, knowledgeable and mostly tight, but not rock-ish. So as I ponder what to do, I know that T7 and QT straightened out on the turn, and 98 and J9 improved to be ahead. Also, T9 and T8 improved too with combo draws. These are all likely hands in the mix. I'm not yet quite willing to give up though, so I call (mainly just hoping to slow him down to showdown) and the random folds. The river is some meaningless brick. He bets 1500 and I fold. I don't feel like I beat anything, and the hands that I do beat--QJ, JT, T9, T8--don't seem like they're betting every street. But maybe. He then quietly tells me he had QT without showing his hand.

Part 2 - the hand
At 50/100, I have 5700 from my starting 6k. The action folds to the same dude on my right in the HJ seat. He opens to 300 with what should be a wide enough range. In the CO, I look down at two black queens. Now my decision is to 3-bet or flat. In this spot, the decision, I think, is wholly opponent-dependent. Against a loose-passive, or just a mediocre/bad player, 3-betting is ideal because your 3-bet will frequently get called, out of position, by lots of hands you want in there (77-JJ, random Aces, random broadways) and hence you're getting the most value for your hand. On the other hand, against a good player which I'm crediting this dude for being, calling seems best for a few reasons. Mainly in a spot like this, a good player is going to call your 3-bet with a smaller percentage of hands, most of which are bad for you and others that will frequently check/fold the flop when they don't improve, thus minimizing the value of your strong hand. So................... I decide to just call in an attempt to disguise my hand and get value because I know he's opening a wider range and he knows I know that, and thus he knows I can have a wider calling range there myself. So my hand might not look that strong.... jesus, that's exhausting. I'll just get on with it.

So the flop is 952r and he checks to me. I lead for 600 into 750. He thinks for 3 seconds and check-raises to 1600. Christ. So at this point, I have 4800 left and my stack size is ideal for a 3-bet shove. My main thought is that he will be check-raising here with AA/KK a lot, but rarely with TT/JJ. I think he would lead into a 9-high board with TT/JJ for obvious reasons. So I'm now more heavily weighting his hand towards the very top of his range; it's either that or he's owning me or I've just narrowed down his range way too much. But I feel gross shoving 48bbs on the flop with one pair, no draw, during the second level in a tournament I feel I have an edge in ((again, this might be way off base and I'm open to hearing about it, please)). On the other hand, if I have the best of it, then who cares about any of that nonsense. So I decide to take a non-standard line and just call the raise. Now there's 3950 in the pot and I have 3800 left. I want to see how he handles the turn, which is an essentially meaningless 2. Again, he fires into it for 1800 (mind you, he has now bet into me 5 consecutive streets over the course of two hands. what the hell?). I really feel beat. That's my read. I can't just call now. I don't want to shove b/c I no longer have any fold equity since I didn't shove the flop. So I begrudingly fold. At the moment, I felt confident I made the right lay down despite the usual, lingering questions. And then...

Hand 3 - the evidence
Still at 50/100, some random opens for 300 UTG+1, the HJ calls, and the same dude in question 3-bets to 800 from the CO. On the button, I look down at QTdd and muck it. To my direct left, the SB cold 4-bets to 2500. This dude is in his late 30's, was recently moved to our table, and this is the first hand he's played since arriving. Now, please take note because this is a universal live, donkament truth. When some quiet, random, white-bread, middle-aged dude wearing a polo shirt cold 4-bets PF from the WORST POSITION AT THE TABLE, his range is exactly KK/AA. Ok? Please file that away. I mean, this isn't exactly Dario Minieri here. So after he 4-bets, the opener folds, the HJ folds, and our friend to the right stunningly calls the 2500 (which amounts to about a third of his stack). The flop is KJ7r and the SB now checks, setting the most obvious trap in the long, rich history of no limit hold 'em. Shockingly, the dude to my right bets 3000. The SB continues the antics with the classic "distressed/confused" angle, and then of course goes all in. The dude to my right is now forced to call because he's getting like a gazillion-to-one and also has the SB covered. Very predictably, the SB turns over AA and our friend to the right turns over--you guessed it--76hh. Just an awful hand.

And I silently cursed myself for horribly misplaying QQ. Always something to learn.

Later.

Ramble On

2009-06-09T12:53:00.023-05:00

09 June 09 - I felt like airing out my brain today, so here goes. I don't have much to report from the world of poker, and even if I did, writing about it right now seems tedious and inane. But this doesn't...

Now I don't have any ill-will towards Twitter, or the ubiquitous pervasiveness of our increasingly tweet-happy society. Nor am I opposed to Twitter's marginal social utility. Whatever floats your boat. But I do get seriously annoyed by the bandwagon mentality of the media and large corporations who have adopted this medium, presumably for no other reason than thinking it's relevant or cool. I mean, if I have to hear Larry King or Brian Williams or Mike Tirico or Colin Cowherd or some other talking head tell their audience to follow their twitter, I'm going to stab myself in the neck. Everywhere you turn, there it is. 'Twitter! Tweet! Look at us, we're cool!' Please, just shut up already.

I think Jeremy Shockey is all talk. Too much bark. Too little bite. The paradigm of relentlessly putting the 'i' in 'team' and then saying otherwise. I wish the Saints would ship him to Buffalo with TO. This dude adds a whole lotta nothing to the Saints roster.

I think this (old-ish) news bodes well for the future of online poker in the States.

In a momentary lapse of judgment, I backed my car into a telephone pole. Brilliant.

Three days later, lighting struck my house and fried some stuff including my wireless router. Excellent.

Thus far, I think Conan has done an admirable job replacing Jay Leno. Though, I'm probably more likely to watch the cranky, dry wit of Letterman.

Is there any entity more completely full of sh*t than a large corporation with a powerful Congressional lobby? Hypocrisy at its finest on display in this recent commercial. "GM, now finding new ways to shine shit and call it gold! All on the taxpayer's dime!"

I think LSU has an excellent chance to add another Men's Baseball National Championship to the collection. Hopefully it will be half as exciting as this one.

It'll be interesting to see if Federer can break Sampras' record for most Grand Slam titles on the hallowed grass of Wimbledon, the same locale where he abruptly ended Sampras' Wimbledon dynasty in 2001.

And I saved the best for last! I think the aesthetically-pleasing America Olivo has captured my attention these days.

Wire-isms

2009-06-02T17:09:00.005-05:00

02 June 09 - "You know what the problem is? We used to make shit in this country... build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pockets."

Champions League Finale

2009-05-26T16:38:00.006-05:00

26 May 09 - Champions League final tomorrow (Wed), 1:45p CST on ESPN. Manchester United vs. Barcelona.

United attempts to defend the title vs. the potent offensive attack of Barcelona. Perhaps the world's two best players, Christiano Ronaldo (Man U) and Lionel Messi (Barca), will be the featured attractions. The game is essentially listed as a "pick em" across several sites. The o/u on goals scored is 2.5. Here are some highlights from the earlier matches:

How Bizarre

2009-05-23T20:30:00.004-05:00

23 May 09 - I played the $10k at the Beau and chopped it for a bit of profit. For whatever reason, I was relieved to make the final table and earn some money today.

It wasn't too tough of a day either. Early on, I won a nice pot with KK after I opened UTG, c-bet 2/3 pot OTF and got called in one spot from MP on a Ten high, rainbow board. The Ts turned, I checked, and my opponent shoved his remaining ~2100ish and I called getting nearly 2:1. He showed 66 and my hand held.

Then, just a few hands later at 50/100, I limped 54ss OTB in a 6-handed pot. I flopped the stone nuts with A23, two hearts. The action checked to the HJ and he bet just 300 into 600. I settled on just calling and everyone else folded. The 9s turned, he bet 500, I made it 1400, he insta-shipped like 5k, and then slung his cards into the muck when I turned over my hand. Those two pots allowed me to cruise for a bit and survive a few levels of card deadness.

My stack had dwindled to ~13k at 300/600 (75a) and I raised a button limper to 2200 with AThh out of the SB. Surprisingly, this old-timer in the BB cold-called and the button got out of the way. This dude had been playing really loose pre and really aggressively post, so it felt like he could have a ton of hands here. This guy was definitely not your standard old rock. So the flop was A24, two spades, and I decided to make a loose check and see how he reacted. Well incredibly, he shoved like 2x pot (he covered me). I almost beat him into the pot and he meekly tabled 77 after he saw my hand. My hand held and I was in good shape.

Then...

I got lucky to win a large pot when we were down to two tables. At 400/800 (100a), I limped the button with 87ss (with ~22k behind) in a 5-handed pot. Unfortunately, I did not notice that the dude UTG, a Beau tourney regular that I've played a ton of tourneys with, had limped pre. I just wasn't paying attention (probably f*cking with my iPod or something stupid). At any rate, the flop was 963 with one spade. Everyone checked to me and I considered my options - take the free card and play the turn; or lead into it. I decided if I led and then got check-raised that I was going stick it all in right there. So... I bet 2700 which was around half-pot. Then, Eric (UTG) disgustingly made it 6000 and I followed through with my plan and shoved pretty fast. He said "ok, Ill pay off your set" and called with KK. And he had me covered. The As turned and the 9s rivered to give me runner-runner flush. And a big pot...

From there I dumped some of it back, but stayed relatively healthy until we chopped. Interestingly enough, Eric rallied and got the lion-share of the chop. Maybe there is justice after all.

Back tomorrow.

Off The Grid

2009-05-22T00:40:00.001-05:00

22 May 09 - cuwinicu

Whiff

2009-05-08T20:09:00.017-05:00

08 May 09 - Well, today was a complete failure. I played Event 1 of the WSOP-C at Harrah's NOLA and came up empty. There were 573 entrants, and first place was $48k. Unfortunately, I played poorly for the most part.

Here are the 3 hands that defined the day.

In the second level at 50/100, I was sitting on my starting stack of 7k when this hand came up. Limped around to me 3-ways in the BB, I look down at Q6hh and check my option. The flop is Q8x, one heart and I check. From MP, this random mid-40's woman with sunglasses and some lame WSOP gear leads for 200. Fold-fold, and I call. 800 in the pot. The turn is the Th and I check/call 300. 1400 in the pot. The river is the 9s and again I check. She bets 600. I think for awhile, decide to turn my hand into a bluff, and check-raise to 2200. She insta-calls with QJ for a straight and I silently, repeatedly curse myself for even attempting to run this bluff. Just horrrrrrrrrrrrrrible.

Not too long after, at 75/150, I have 3350 in the SB. The same woman raises UTG+1 to 450 and I detect a clear read of strength from her. In the CO this young, internet-looking dude--who played very well--flat calls and I look down at JsJh in the SB. So.... I'm not sure what to do here, and I think on it a bit. At first glance, this looks like an easy 3-bet squeeze/shove with consideration to my hand, my stack and what-not. Unfortunately I really think the chick is strong, like at worst QQ+,AKo,AKs. And I'm not crazy about moving it in PF as 2-1 dog vs her range. Very confused. I'm not too worried about the kid, and think he has some random mid-pair, a suited connector, or suited broadways. Still, I take a passive line and just call (is this a glaring error? should i just always shove here?). I don't have much of a plan for the flop, either... Well the flop is Jxx, all diamonds. It's never easy, is it? I check, planning to CRAI. Unfortunately, both the woman and the kid check and the turn is the Ah. Now, I'm very happy too see that card b/c I'm pretty sure the woman has AK because she would've bet the flop with any overpair. So I check and she predictably bets 600 into 1500, but the kid curiously just calls behind. Now I have no clue what he has, maybe like 99 or TT with a diamond. Regardless, I move in my last 2900. The woman lets out this huge sigh. Then she starts talking to me, but I can't hear her b/c I have my iPod on (yes, Harrah's NOLA allowed us to use iPods in the theatre). I take out my left earbud and hear her ask me, "if I fold, will you show?" I just immediately put the earbud back in my ear and say nothing. Then she splashes in the chips for the call and the kid folds. She turns over AKo with no diamond and is drawing dead. Then she starts calling for a river A... um, yeah. I obviously double.

Then I catch a small rush and run my stack to around 8500, still at 75/150. Then I bust it all on one hand when I make a mis-read for my whole stack. From MP2, I open red AJo for 450 and get called from this loose, passive station on the button and I also get called from this spastic, loose whacko in the SB. The flop is 543, two clubs and the whacko checks. I continue for 800 into 1500 and the station folds. The SB insta-calls and I squarely assign him random Aces or clubs. 3100 in the pot. The turn wheels a 2d and he checks again. And this is where I'm pretty sure I make a terrible decision/bet-size. I bet 2600 and he insta-insta-shoves and has me covered. I realy feel like we have the same hand, or maybe he has random clubs and is semi-bluffing, or maybe he's making a sick-ass move with an A and trying to steal. I have just a bit more than 4500 left (30 bbs). I tank it for a bit and I'm having trouble figuring out how he might have a 6 in his hand. After about 90 seconds of consideration, I call and he shows A6dd. I'm drawing dead to a chop and miss. Sigh. Gone. Anyone.... turn line? Calling it off? Help please. I'm pretty sure it's bad, but I just went with my read and missed.

One way or the other, I walked away feeling like I played poorly all around. Good luck to those of you still in the hunt. Should have more in a few days.

Electric Lights

2009-05-06T23:21:00.000-05:00

6 May 09 -

dark the eyes
beneath the void,
around the bend
the shadow lurks

alive she cries
shaken and annoyed,
repaired the mend
as the devil smirks

Cutty & Water

2009-04-29T21:44:00.000-05:00

29 April 09 - What am I, a mirage?

Unglued

2009-04-24T19:57:00.009-05:00

23 April 09 - I took some time before posting this because I wanted to ensure that my emotions were in check before I wrote...

Even though the last month--and this year in general--has been profitable for me, I have found myself vacillating in the extremes of emotion that poker inevitably forces upon you. I am slowly but surely learning how to be a winning player, but as that mindset and approach manifests itself, I am finding it increasingly more difficult to handle the short-term emotional fluctuation that is both an inherent, spiteful thorn and a fortuitous, timely deus-ex-machina. I'm not sure if I'm just weak, or if the abundant mental toughness that I've always believed I possessed has slowly eroded, but I just feel acutely the emotion--and mostly the accompanying pain--much more viscerally and vividly. And to exacerbate the state, the wins are never as emotionally intense and satisfying as the losses are ruthless and betraying.

I can't really put my finger on 'why,' but there's something there. It's personal, and I shy away from writing this kind of stuff, but it's the truth and it's the way I feel, and I have an inner obligation to examine it. And this is the best--um, optimal--medium for it. Why can't I just accept the fact that, in NLHE, sh*t happens all the time? It's inevitable, in the strictest mathematical sense of the term.

But yet, I felt so hurt this week from a single session of poker. What the f*ck? It's pathetic.

At 9:30am Thursday morning, I stumbled out of the poker room in a pained, distorted, nearly-REM, pseudo-hallucinogenic, punch-drunk daze that left me battered. This was on the heels of 12+ hour cash session that, for the better part of the night, I completely owned. I was up 4 buy-ins, and then just like that, it was all gone. And it seriously fucking hurt.

((if you're tired of listening to me whine and bemoan my emotional state, then you should stop reading here because i'm about to relay two bad beats in a low stakes, no-limit hold 'em game. and no, no longer do i apologize for telling bad beat stories. if you don't like it, i don't really give a shit.))

So I'm on the button with two black Kings, and this young Asian guy who's been playing crazy-but-solid poker, opens to $15 UTG+1. We're playing $1/$2/$5. After 2 callers, I 3bet to $40 and get called by the Asian kid and this other random dude. On a Txx flop, it's check-check and I bet $95. The Asian kid calls and the random mucks. There's about $325 in the pot. The turn is a red 3, and the Asian kid snap-shoves his last $275 into the middle. I briefly consider my options, but call relatively quickly. This dude turns up T4cc and proceeds to river a 4 for about a $900 pot. ((and, if these sums of $$ seem nominal to you, they don't seem so to me)).

Then about an hour-and-a-half later, I lose the rest of it when, with K9hh, I flop K9x and check-raise this old nit from $40 to $120. Then he snap-shoves his remaining $450+, hears the words "i call" immediately come from me, subsequently (and confidently) tables KT, and inevitably turns a Ten. ((that was a long sentence. whoa)). I splashed my whole stack into the middle like a bush-league amateur, and then staggered to my car. And you know what? I lost one buy-in. That's it. It wasn't just the money that hurt; it was the perceived injustice of it. I mean, it's so incredibly lame that I just wrote that. Come on, it happens and it will happen in perpetuity. And it's happened countless times to me. But I couldn't handle it. And after all this time, that is worrisome to me.

Whatever. It's done. Gonna take some time away and collect myself.

PS>> 2 words to Sean Payton on the eve of the draft:

Deee!!!
Fense!!!!

Five and Out

2009-04-18T21:23:00.010-05:00

18 April 09 - First hand I get TT UTG, limp/call 300 at 25/50. Check-fold Jxx, 2-heart board to the OR, a really serious poker-looking guy with shades and an iPod who continued for 700. 3 hands later OTB, I call 150 in a multiway pot with 54cc. Flop KJx, 2 clubs. I call 600 heads-up. Turn Jd, I fold to 1500. Next hand, I see AQss and say to myself "this is going to be a short day." I call 175 (instead of properly 3betting) 5-ways. Flop Ks Ts Kd. Old-spastic-quiet-angry dude who plays insanely horrible leads for 600. Nice-looking, mid-30's woman calls. I call. Turn 6s. Check-check, I pot it for 3000, leaving 1000 behind, and hoping one of these tards will shove Kx. Old dude and woman both call. Bazillion in the pot now. River red 3. Old dude shoves, woman folds, I call and say "I hope you don't have king-ten." No he doesn't. He shows K3o. Perfect. 5 hands and out. F*ck myself.

Poker is so f*cking stupid. Back for some more pain tomorrow.

don't ever tell a dyin' man
you never meant to shoot him down

All Night Long

2009-04-17T17:32:00.003-05:00

17 April 09 - It's about 3:30 PM and I'm just waking up. I played an all-night cash session from 10p - 7:30a this morning. The night went by really fast, and I finished up exactly at breakeven. I guess you could consider it a waste of time, but I did accomplish my goal of identifying and plugging some of the many leaks that had sprung up in my cash game play over the last month.

I'm heading back tomorrow for the $15k gtd. Until then, I'll be resting. Back with more later this weekend.

Stuck

2009-04-13T09:57:00.011-05:00

11-12 April 09 - Recently, I've developed a terrible habit of getting myself needlessly stuck in these stupid cash games I'm playing. I also might have a poor selection of games, which is leading to said stuck-ness. My game selection goes to sh*t because I'm picking games where I feel like I have the best edge, but that turns into me playing almost every hand and just spewing money everywhere. It's like bizarro game selection consequence. Because the NL games at the Beau are uncapped, I will typically seek out the deepest $1/$2 game that appears to have the best action. These games are usually good, and they always attract the older, recreational players with plenty of money who are there to gamble and have fun. When I sit, I put on the straddle and encourage the rest of the table to do so, both tacitly and directly. When it comes to fruition, the $1/$2/$5 game turns into a great game assuming there is enough $$ on the table.

So mostly, this is what I've been playing for the last month or so. But with poor results. Again, it's most likely due to my inability to be patient and pick good spots. It's also eminently possible that I just suck. But my cash game style is, counter intuitively, derived from all of the tournament poker I play. Let me explain. When playing in tournaments, it's just natural to be a little more selective about hands and positional requirements since you're not able to reload... So when I play the cash games, I feel liberated and consequently I've been going nuts playing way too many hands and chasing draws like a stupid frog.... and getting myself stuck.

On Saturday, I played for 11 hours and this was much longer than I intended on playing. But I was forced to stick around and dig myself out of the $800 hole I burrowed myself into. I mean, it's difficult to get stuck almost a grand in a single $1/$2 session, but I seemed to have mastered this peculiar, little art as of late. To add to the difficulty, there was an incredibly hot girl at the table who completely and devastatingly distracted me into playing horribly. I'm such a sucker. To my credit, I didn't donate any of my $$ to her but I just spewed it around to everyone else. So I got stuck and rallied back on this hand I want to discuss. It's not intended to be a brag post, but it inevitably will be. There's a lot of analysis I think is interesting, so here goes.

It's about 11pm Saturday night and we're playing $1/$2/$5. The action limps around to this young-ish kid on the button who raises to $22. This dude was a good player, and was being really selective of his hands and was not opening or 3betting all that frequently. He was also though, in my opinion, selectively taking advantage of his tight image. His stack is ~$400. In the SB, with about $400, I look down at AKhh. Since by this point my image is completely trashed from playing really loose and really aggressively, I just decide to call (not really sure this is logical, either). The BB also calls. This guy had a stack of ~$800 and was in his late 40's: businessman-type of dude who was having a good time, drinking beer, playing lots of pots, and being generally spastic. The three of us take a flop of 2 3 4 with one heart. I check, the businessman checks, and the kid continues for $50 into a pot of about $80.

Now this kid should have a huge range of hands he's c-betting here. His bet sizing seems to indicate some mid-pair, but he can also be c-betting lots of Aces, lots of broadways, and some suited connectors. At this point, in my opinion, it's just too hard to narrow his range and I don't really feel like giving up on this pot yet as I might have the best hand, so I call. I figure with the right turn texture, there are a lot of ways I can take it away from him. Oddly enough however, the businessman overcalls behind me and I think "what?" His range is much easier to define here. I'm eliminating mid-pairs like 66-99 because I feel like he's definitely leading those on the flop because he seems like the kind of player who wants to bet and "see where's he's at." Sets seem really unlikely because of the vulnerability of the board, and b/c it's multi-way, so I'm eliminating those. He could be getting retarded with some broadway cards, or he could have an Ace as well seeing if he can miracle a wheel on the turn. The last possibility is that he has 55, but I also feel like he generally leads the flop with that.... So....

There's now $230 in the pot, and the turn pairs the board with a seemingly harmless deuce. I again check and the businessman makes this weird little $50 bet. The kid on the button surprisingly folds, and I again think "what?" I really, really doubt this guy has A2 because I feel certain he would've tried to set some lame, check-raise trap here with three deuces. So, I just call again and bloat the pot even more. $330 in the pot, and I now have ~$275 behind. The river bricks out a red 8 and I check again and watch to see how this guy reacts. So, he looks down at his stack, he hovers his hand over his chips, and I can tell his mind is in overdrive. Since he didn't check behind, I'm eliminating marginal one pair hands that have showdown value, that he would almost always just check behind and hope to win with. I'm thinking he's thinking "I have the bet to win this pot." So he continues to fumble around and finally bets $125. I think for just about 5 seconds and say "I hope this isn't bad" and call. Sweet music when I hear "nice call" and he turns over AJ. And I drag a nice pot that lifted me from the depths of my previously horrid play.

About 15 minutes later, a visibly-intoxicated Monkey comes stumbling towards my table hollering my name and encouraging me to play at the open seat on his table. Which I do. And as you might expect, insanity reigns at this table as Monkey introduces me as Don Johnson/Sonny Crockett (have you seen my circa-1983 hair?). We all have a good laugh, and Monkey is just in his element acting a fool. It was a sight to see, and it was fun. On like the 3rd hand at the table, I find AA in the BB after the entire table limps. I raise to $30, get one caller, and then have another dude go all-in for his last $50. I check a flop of KTx hoping the other dude will put in the rest of his money. Instead he checks, hits his third T on the turn and ships the rest of his stack. And I call it off. Sigh. I am just terrible. Miraculously, the Ac binks 5th street and I win a nice pot and call it a night shortly thereafter.

I'm going to be taking a break from poker until this Sat's tourney which I think is a $15k gtd.

See you out there. Thanks for reading.

Airball

2009-04-08T09:47:00.002-05:00

7 April 09 - I airballed two megas yesterday. No soup for me. Gonna take a few days away from the felt and collect myself. Good luck and thanks for reading.

Whole Lotta Nothing

2009-04-05T10:55:00.005-05:00

5 April 09 - I wouldn't exactly describe this past week as a 'bloodbath', but it wouldn't be a complete inaccuracy to label as it so either. On Wednesday, I was bounced from the tourney when I ran KK into AA and then wandered straight to the cash game where I tilted off some more money. Huge leak. I finally surrendered and decided to chalk up a losing day.

Friday turned out to be a lot less profitable than it was fun. I played the noon tourney and finally busted after what seemed like three hours of folding... After taking a break for a meal, I played a 13 hour cash session. Again, I couldn't get above water the entire night/morning. In the early hours of Saturday morning, when I finally came within $100 of being stuck, I lost a big pot when I made a marginal call (with top pair) of some random's check-shove all-in; he outdrew me and I decided it was time to end the session.

I slept for just a few hours and then played the Saturday noon $550. There were 200+ in the field which attracted some of the stronger players from the Coast. The 'highlight' of the day was raising two red Aces UTG, getting 3bet from MP, 4bet shoving, and getting called by two black Aces. Blah. Other than that, I played only six other hands in five levels before I busted. There were several soft spots at the table but I couldn't find the spots to get involved with any of them, which was super-frustrating. Instead, my opportunities came against the two best players at the table - Lake and BJ, who was two to my right. In the first level, at 25/50, BJ opened the HJ to 150 and I called from the button with JThh. The flop was Jxx, 2 diamonds and he continued for 250. I called and the Td turned. He checked, I bet 625, he folded.

Then at 100/200, 3 players limped and I found Q7ss in the BB. I checked my option and saw a flop of 7x 9s 4s. The SB checked, I checked, some random checked and BJ bet 400. The SB folded and I moved in for BJ's last 3000 or so. He tanked for a bit, asked me if I had a big draw, and then folded. When I shoved, I was 99% sure he was calling with consideration to stacks and such. When he busted me two levels later, I was wishing he had called. After having misplayed 98cc from MP and then grossly raise/folded JJ with 13 bbs (after an open-3bet shove-4bet shove sequence), I was blinded down to 3100 chips at 200/400 (50a). UTG+2, I found 88 and finally shipped it. BJ had AK in the BB and busted me. Lame. I was feeling good about making a run, but to no avail....

The tournament series is winding down with the $2600 main event starting Wednesday. I'm hopeful to satellite in to the event and get another final table under my belt.

postscript:

Davey, here's the math on the 74dd hand. I'm glad you didn't call. $1/$2/$5 cash game. Tight old man opens in EP for $15, 3 others call. The flop is 8d 9d Tc and the old man continues for $20. Davey raises to $60 with 74dd and I raise to $155 with 99 (definitely a bad raise size). The old man mucks and then Davey dejectedly mucks his hand.

Board: 9d 8d Tc

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 61.061% 59.70% 01.36% 591 13.50 { 9h9s }
Hand 1: 38.939% 37.58% 01.36% 372 13.50 { 7d4d }

In the first of a series of poor plays by me on the night, this was another. I'm giving 3:1 to call and basically asking to get busted by any flush draw.

A Hand to Ponder

2009-03-31T13:41:00.003-05:00

31 March 09 - Here's an interesting hand from my tourney on Sunday that I was not involved in.

We are playing 7-handed on 3 tables. The money is at 18, so we are mostly on the money bubble right now. If anyone feels like suggesting some answers, please feel free.

1000/2000 (300a)

UTG+1 opens for 4,000. This dude is in his late 40's/early 50's and is a tournament regular on the Coast. He has recently doubled up and gone on a rush and built his stack to ~60k.

MP2 3bets to 16,000. This is an Asian dude in his mid/late 20's. He has not been too active, and he's shown a tendency to play most of his small/big blind hands. He has not been 3betting PF very frequently. His stack is ~50k.

The button cold calls the 3bet. This dude is in his late 50's, and is dressed nicely in a blazer. He seems to be super-solid, and appears to be a life-long poker player. He hasn't gotten out of line at all and is all-business at the table. His stack covers both at ~80k.

UTG+1 4bet shoves his remaining stack, and the Asian dude folds.

Now...

2 questions:

What hands should UTG+1 be opening and then 4bet-shoving given the exact situation?
What hands should the button call a shove with?

Eyes That Lie

2009-03-30T08:48:00.005-05:00

30 March 09 - All in all, I had a good weekend albeit one that ended on a frustrating note.

On Friday, I chopped the 2nd chance tourney and got credited with 1st place after 8 hours or so of play. I then headed to NOLA on Saturday for a crawfish boil and some late night debauchery at the legendary Old Point Bar in Algiers Point. Then on Sunday, working on a just few, meager hours of sleep, I headed back the Beau for Event 2 of the Spring Break Poker Classic. This was a $340 buy-in with a field of 220 players.

I played for twelve hours or so, and busted in 13th place for a lame profit. I was in position to make a run at the $19k first prize, but I busted when I played a big pot for the chiplead (or close to) when we were shorthanded. For the majority of the day, I grinded a shortstack and was down to 5800 chips at 300/600 (75a). I then doubled two times when I woke up with Kings after having my big blind shoved on. After getting my stack ~20k, I won a important pot when I called off about half my stack with 44 on a drawy board after this dude shoved the flop. My 4's were ahead, they held, and I was in good shape. Down to 36 players, I caught a rush of cards and built my stack to 75k and was seemingly in good shape to chip up on the bubble as there were several shortstacks hanging on for dear life.

Unfortunately, I caught another frozen wave of cards and saw my stack dwindle all the way down to 33k after the money bubble burst. Then, at 1500/3000 (400a) I open-shoved two black fours UTG, got called by AQ, and held. Then with my stack hovering ~ 80k, I played the bust hand at 2000/4000 (500a). Folded to me in the CO, I squeezed out AJcc and opened for 11,000. I got called by the button who had around ~150k and was first or second in chips. The BB called as well and we saw a flop of Tc 7c 6h. The BB checked, I checked, the button bet 15k, and the BB folded. I then took about 3 seconds and shipped my stack in. The button instacalled me with 54cc for a dead club draw, but an open-ended straight draw. He turned an 8 for the straight, and I missed my re-draw on 5th street. And that was that. It hurts to get close and miss, but I played lights-out all day so I am happy for that. Not much solace, but a little.

I definitely had an opportunity to play a bit tighter and make the final table. There were 3 or 4 short stacks left when I busted, but I was going for it. There were some good players in the last 18. Monkey was still in when I busted last night, so hopefully he made the final table which is being played today at 4pm.

So... I'm going to regroup for a day or two and be back for a few more events later this week.

Thanks for reading.

Boiling Point

2009-03-26T21:19:00.004-05:00

26 March 09 - The next week-and-a-half is very important to me. I am looking forward to several events in the Beau's Spring tourney series. You can see the schedule here: http://www.beaurivage.com/casino/casino_poker_room.aspx

I gotta break out. For real.

I'll be in NOLA on Saturday for a crawfish boil/party, then at the $340 event2 at the Beau on Sunday. Hope to see a big turnout.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

Finally

2009-03-22T21:41:00.006-05:00

22 March 09 - I finished a long weekend of live poker on Sunday evening. The weekend consisted of 3 tournaments and 2 cash sessions. Here's my report card from my pre-weekend checklist:

Have Fun: (A-) I really enjoyed myself. I played cash sessions with my friends Bill, Matt, and Jay over the course of the weekend. Bill and I played a 10+ hr cash session on Friday which was fun and educational. It was a roller-coaster ride for me, and I was lucky to emerge with a tiny profit in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I also witnessed Bill make a few spectacular plays, one of which was bluffing the loosest, deepest-stacked donk off of top pair with 72o. It was a tremendous hand. And all you fishies think Bill is a nit... think again, my friends.

Play Smart: (B) For the most part, I was satisfied with my decision-making this weekend. I made one horrible decision in the cash game; put all my money in bad; and was completely outplayed.... and then I rivered the winner. It went like something like this. I open J9o for $11 or whatever in a $1/$2 NL game. 3 others call and the flop comes J8x. I continue for $30 and this older dude to my left with popeye-sized forearms with faded tats on both arms raises to $60. I call and the turn is an offsuit T which gives me the up-downer + top pair. I check; he bets $100 and I horribly shove my last $175 or so. He snap-calls with AA and I river a J. Pretty certain this dude was ready to whip my ass. He was NOT happy.

Be Patient: (B-) What was once my biggest leak is now one of my biggest strengths at the table, and I infrequently diverge from patiently picking my spots. But I have to say that impatience might have cost me my tourney on Saturday...

Stay Composed: (B-) Bill witnessed me semi-tilt after this Santa Claus-lookalike raised me innumerable times. I got visibly flustered and he stacked me for a buy-in shortly thereafter. I certainly lost my composure there, but other than that incident I was calm.

Maintain Sobriety: (C-) During a 10-ish hr. cash session that stretched from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning, I consumed several Coronas. I didn't drink any tequila however, so I mostly had my faculties intact.

Be Humble: (A) If memory serves correctly, I did not have any boisterious, asshole-ish episodes. Very proud of this.

Take your beats with class: (B) I had a smart-ass remark in the tourney today after getting my Aces cracked... I just couldn't bite my tongue after listening to the dude who crippled me say "that's what you get for slowplaying those Aces." But considering the amount of beats I incurred, I fared well in this category.

Be Aggressive: (B) I don't really know how to judge myself in this category. Aggression varies in its frequency and intensity... I think I'm good on the 'intensity' side but may be lacking in the 'frequency' category. This is an area I'm evaluating.

Win: (A-) Well, I salvaged this category by chopping the Sunday $15k gtd tourney. Up to that point, I had airballed the Friday and Saturday tourneys; booked a very thin win on Friday night in the cash game; and booked a thin loss in the Saturday cash session. It was a losing weekend until today.

I was happy to finally make my first final table in a live tourney this year. I was 0-for-8 going into today and it looked very, very bleak early on. Within the first 15 minutes of the day, I was down to 1200 of my starting stack of 6000 after getting my Aces cracked by QT. I hung in there and rallied all the way back to make the final table. The chop was a good deal equity-wise, and I was happy to do it.

Ok, if you want some poker-specific content to ponder, here's a hand from one of my tourneys. All feedback/suggestions/criticism very much welcomed and encouraged. There are some holes in this hand, one of which is particulary noticeable.

50/100
Effective stacks ~6k.

Two limpers to me at a weak, passive table. In the CO, I raise A 9 to 300
SB and BB call, one limper folds, one limper calls.
Pot 1300, 4-handed.

Flop A 6 2

3 checks to me, I bet 825 , the SB calls, the other two dudes fold.

(The SB is a mid 50's-ish guy who I've played several tourneys with and recall him talking about playing in some WSOP events in the past. He's sort of loose/spastic/bluffy/unorthodox. He's def not your standard live nit/passive rock.)

Pot is 2950
Turn is the 9

Board A 6 2 9

He checks to me. He has like 4500 behind and I have 5200 behind.

And now I.....

(a) bet/call a shove, and if so how much should I bet?
(b) check-back, and if so what's my plan for a bricked river card if he bets/shoves/checks it?

Clocking In

2009-03-20T08:33:00.003-05:00

20 March 09 - I'm headed to the Beau for the next 30+ hours for an extended session, and a few donkaments. I'm really looking forward to it. Here's the mental checklist I made:

Have fun
Play smart
Be patient
Stay composed
Maintain sobriety
Be humble
Take your beats with class
Be aggressive
Win

I'll post more when I'm back. Enjoy the weekend and thanks for reading.

The Contents of My Head

2009-03-17T15:02:00.011-05:00

17 March 09 - This stuff has been rattling around in my brain today, so let me unload it. Disclaimer: prepare to be offended.

I think...

that it was painful to watch Daniel Negreanu tilt off his money on HSP this past Sunday.

that if the Broncos trade Jay Cutler, they will regret it.

that the criminals at AIG deserve medieval comeuppance.

that the news media at large--both the conservative and liberal media--is designed to prey on fear, generate ratings, and promote personal agendas. I guess objective reporting of facts is dead in America because that wouldn't generate as much profit.

that the continued proliferation of technology and gadgets, and the inane appetite for the immediate consumption of said goods, is annoying and pathetic.

that the murder rate in NOLA is appalling and sad.

that the domestic development of energy technology, if undertaken with commitment and scope, will re-energize the American economy and its people.

that the Saints really need a free safety, and soon.

that Marissa Miller and Megan Fox make me happy.

that Republicans who spew the hollow rhetoric decrying Obama's purportedly 'liberal, socialist' policies conveniently never mention that the Bush administration spent more wastefully and less fiscally-responsible than any other administration in American history, while initiating the nationalization of the American banking and insurance institutions through the first series of bailouts. Just pointing out the glaring disconnect in logic there. Or maybe it's hypocrisy. Or stupidity. Or selective memory.

that I am not a Democrat, even though you might assume otherwise.

that I was opposed to bailouts during the end of the Bush administration, and I am still opposed to the bailouts now.

that Rush Limbaugh is a pitiful, backwards, extremist, myopic waste of space whose sole mission in life is to be an attention-seeking, divisive persona. He's like the Terrell Owens of the American political landscape. Only the blind sheep still believe in the efficacy of his presence. Please just go away.

that the two-party political system in America is antiquated and broken and that its progeny is obstinate, partisan stagnation.

that I am optimistic that America will right the ship sooner rather than later.

that if I could play the guitar, I would want the skills of JJ Cale.

that watching world-class soccer on TV is enjoyable because I'm not bombarded with commercials every 7 minutes.

that Bill Simmons' columns are the only reason I visit espn.com.

that I never really understood the popularity of Rick Reilly's material.

that I have no clue who will emerge from the madness in March. How 'bout dem Tigers?

that I don't drink enough water.

that I enjoy wearing robes (not snuggies).

that I'm going to make the final table on Saturday.

that it's time for a crawfish boil.

((it is now safe to retort if you feel the need))

Idling Through March

2009-03-15T03:02:00.015-05:00

15 March 09 - I had to make a move. Deep into the evening on Saturday, I emerged from the lethargy of malaise that plagued my soul, and attempted to reinvigorate my guarded, battered psyche. After a week's worth of sickness, languor, and boredom, I played 16 hours of poker on Saturday.

For the majority of the day I played online, grinding tourneys on both PokerStars and Full Tilt and finally succumbed to a series of misfortune after nearly 1000 hands. I think I min-cashed one event out of the 14 I entered. As I attempted to collect the last of the lingering remnants of coherent thought, and struggled to maintain my sanity and poise, I looked down at my phone to see a text message from Jay. "Just sat down at the $2/$5 table. Looks like a good game." Greetings from the Beau. Here I go.

Without really thinking twice about it, I was in my car heading west--rain and all--ready to salvage a day that was seemingly lost. When I got there, I was surprisingly relaxed and focused. The four Coronas and shot of Patron aided in the perpetuation of said state. Over the course of a four-hour session at $2/$5, I racked up a decent, worthy profit. And most of all, I think I played well. It was a nice change of pace to play deep-stacked poker, and not think about all the nonsense that sometimes characterizes MTT. Here are a few hands if you're interested.

**
In the SB, I look down at two black fours and call a standard raise of $15. 4-handed, we see a flop of Th 5h 9h. Checks through. Turn Qc. Checks through. River Qd. From MP, this middle-aged gentleman--a solid regular--bets $25. Everybody folds. It's back to me and I.... ??

**
OTB, I look down at AKhh and 3bet from $15 to $40. I get one caller, this dude to my left sitting on a stack of like $2,800. This guy was was playing almost every pot; he was really loose and aggressive. And he was, to this point, getting run over by the deck. The flop is Kxx, 2 hearts. And now I'm thinking about how I can get my stack into the middle against this dude as fast as humanly possible. He checks; I lead for $65 into $100ish and he calls. The turn is the Ac, and he grabs a handful of chips and starts to bet into me. Before he can even release all of his chips I blurt out "all in." He dejectedly mucks, and I then realize how much value I just screwed myself out of. This was my biggest mistake of the night.

**
OTB with K9ss, I call a $20 raise and see a multi-way flop of A96r. Checks through. The turn is the Kd, and this weak-spastic middle-aged dude in the 2 seat bets $25. I call. Pot is about $150. The river is a 5. And he now bets $290 into me. Um, what?!? I fold, obviously. The table debates what he had - two players say 87, I think he has a set of sixes, and he finally tells us A9. Way to bet 2x pot when you're only getting called by a hand that crushes you. Why do people do this?!?!

**
Not too much longer in the BB, I call a $20 raise from the same dude with KJo and we see a 5-handed flop of Kxx. Everyone checks to the opener and he bets the pot of $100. Action back on me, and I think for a bit. This guy has been doing some weird sh*t, but he's basically just been playing the strength of his hand. He has another $250 behind, so if I go with it, we're playing for his stack on the turn. I have a strange feeling that I'm beat here for a variety of reasons. And I also don't want to stack off 40% of my chips to this dude with one pair. So I fold and ask him to show one card. And he obliges and turns over a Queen. Guess I had him.

**
Same guy again raises his BB to $20 and I limp/call the button with A2. We see a five-way flop of A2x and everyone checks to me. I bet $65 into $100, and he check-shoves like $300-ish. I get a count, glance at him, and call. He turns over AT and I get his stack. Finally.

**
Hand of the night. I open KK UTG for $20 and get called by the big-stack, super-aggressive dude to my direct left. Now I'm hoping I can atone for my poor play against him when I missed a TON of value. Everybody else folds and the flop is Kd Qc Jd. Interesting. I bet $35 into $50, really hoping to get raised here so that I can 3bet now and then open-shove every turn. Unfortunately, he just calls. At this point, I can't really put this dude on a hand because he can have anything. I mean, anything. So the turn is the 4d which completes the flush. I check with the intention of check-calling any bet. He predictably bets $100 and I call. Pot is $320ish. The river is a gross 9d. The board now reads Kd Qc Jd 4d 9d. I check; he bets $200. And I.... ???

Ok, thats it for now. Also, congrats to Jay for a monster session in the same game. He recovered very nicely from an ugly 2-outer for a big pot early in the session.

Thanks for reading. Back when I have something of note.

ps>> High Stakes Poker, 8PM GSN tonight. Best poker on TV.

High Stakes Sickness

2009-03-09T13:19:00.005-05:00

9 March 09 - For the first time in 3+ years, I'm sick with the flu. With that said, I don't have much to write but I want to post this video.

For those of you who haven't seen the most recent episode of High Stakes Poker, I thought you'd want to watch this most interesting hand. Enjoy.

Twilight Zone

2009-02-28T07:57:00.008-06:00

27 Feb 09 - Friday was, by all accounts, one of the stranger days of poker I can recall. It was also a losing day, which added to the oddity. I played the 11am tourney and then a 7-hr cash session. On the whole, I finished 18th in the tourney--out of the money--and then got stuck about $400 in my cash session. On two occasions, I had individuals at my tables ask me if I knew "where they could score some chronic" or "who can hook up some bud?" I didn't have the answers to their questions, just as I didn't have any answers for the poker quandaries that confounded me all day.

The first stoner guy was sitting two to my left, and to the direct left of Bill during the tourney. This guy implemented an interesting strategy of blind min-raising UTG for the first few levels. I haven't spent much time examining the permutations of this exercise, but it seems like a worthy pursuit if the conditions are right. Seemingly, the major effect of this move is that it neuters the blinds and it mitigates the limping effect. It also potentially allows the dude UTG to win a larger pot PF with a 4bet when given the opportunity, knowing that 3bets will generally be lighter due to the random hand that has blind-raised. Interesting. His strategy forced me to mostly fold my SB, and forced Bill to muck or raise. But it did limit the hands both Bill and I played from the blinds. It's definitely sustenance for investigation.

At any rate, the tournament was mostly non-descript. There were about 60 players, and I didn't play many interesting hands. Down to about 30 players, I opened the button with 95o with about 15bbs behind, thinking that the two women in the blinds were highly likely to fold. Well... this weak-tight, middle-aged woman called me from the BB and the flop came JT8r. She checked, and I didn't really have much of a choice but to ship it in and she immediately called with QJ. Luckily, I got there on the turn when a Q peeled, faded her re-draw, and doubled up. Then I got moved to another table with this young, super-aggressive kid on my right. This really paralyzed me because he was opening or 3-betting at a very high frequency, and it was mostly forcing me to fold. Between my cards and my stack size, my re-steal opportunities were limited and my stack just dribbled away. ((on a side note, i am also interested in examining the effect of having the super-aggressive player to your direct right; we mostly know the effects of having the aggressive players on your left, but it seems to be equally impactful--beneficial or harmful, depending on your point of view--to have this type of player on your right at certain inflection periods of a tournament)). So down to two tables, I doubled up when the maniac-kid opened shoved from the SB and I snap-called with A6dd and my hand held against his J9. Not but three orbits later, he again open-shoved my BB and again, I looked down at A6dd and called. This time, his 88 held and sent me packing...

I immediately sat in 1/2 NL game and proceeded to get treated like an inmate in a Turkish prison for like 7 hours. Most of the remainder of this content is beat-centirc, so forgive me if it sounds like I am bitching. I just don't have much else to report. It was, however, fun to play an extended session with Davey and Bill, and it made for an interesting table dynamic. Among the three of us--and mostly Davey--we were opening or 3-betting 95% of the pots pre-flop. And we opened the game up pretty good.

In one of the most interesting hands of the day--one that I was not involved in--I was 99% certain I picked up a solid tell on Bill. In a multi-way raised pot, the flop was T5x, two hearts. The action OTF checked through with Bill in position. The turn was an offsuit 6 for a board of T5x6 with a heart draw. Some random dude led for like $40 into a $60 pot, Davey called (prob hoping to bluff the riv), and Bill overcalled (which pretty much foiled Davey's plan, I believe). This raised my curiousity because I couldn't determine why Bill checked-through the flop in position, and then cold-called a bet/call OTT. It was difficult to think he would check a T in position on the flop, especially if it was a weak-ish QT/JT/T9. I mainly thought he either turned a set and was trapping, or had picked up a big draw with something like 87hh. So...... the river is the Th, which pairs the board and completes the flush. As I was watching Bill watch the flop, his eyes immediately glanced upward at the bill of his hat, then back to the board, then back to the bill of his hat. This all happened in rapid succession, and seemed to be an instinctive reaction--as opposed to introspective, thoughtful consideration. Now I thought he had filled up. When the same random dude led the riv for $60-ish, Davey folded (I think), Bill announced "raise" and made it $180, I believe. The dude folded and Bill showed KQo for a stone bluff. Well played. So much for my dumb-ass tell spotting.

So once Bill racked up and left with a nice chunk of profit, Davey and I went about attempting to run over the table. The problem, however, is that I was getting run over like the freaking autobahn. I lost so many stupid pots, I can't even remember them all. Here's the litany of beats - again, this is not complaint, just reporting because I have nothing else to write about: I lost with Q4hh vs A8o against a retardo short stack when he 3bet shoved the flop of Q8x and turned an 8. I lost with KJ on a board of KJTxQ against an all-in short stack OTF with Ax. With T8, I flopped A88 but managed to chop the pot against some random dude impersonating the Fine Young Cannibals, who had 98. I lost with T9 on a board of 9xxT when Bill rivered the nuts.

Then, I had my aces cracked two times in the span of an hour by this old-timer, which sent me deep into the world of tilt. In the first hand, I raised a multi-way limped pot from the BB with two black Aces and the old-timer called. The flop was QQx, and I continued for $30 into a pot of about $60 hoping for some more value. Right. He called and the turn was another Q. Again looking for value, I checked with the intent of check min-raising the turn and then leading a small bet OTR. This seemed like the best way to get two more streets of value if he had a pair of tens or something similar. Well unfortunately--or fortunately--he checked back. When the river bricked, I bet just $45 and he slung a $100 bill into the pot, meaning to raise but announcing nothing. Luckily for me, his action was just a call. I confidently turned over my hand and he oddly turned over QJ for quads. Of course. About 40 mins later, I again raised Aces from the BB and again only he called. The flop was 96x. I bet $40 into $60 and he min-raised me. I just cannot articulate the tilt-induced rage I felt boiling inside of me at this point. So... I just quietly called and checked the turn. He bet $75 and I asked "do you really have a set?" He said "I'm trying to make you think I do." I said, "well, I believe you." Unfortunately, I was (am) not good enough to just trust myself and muck it. I mean, there's no way way this guy is min-raising me OTF, then leading that amount OTT without a set on a board that dry. And I knew it. But I still couldn't fold!! So I called and checked the river. For some odd reason, he checked back and showed a set of sixes. I petulantly slammed my cards onto the table, stood up, and attempted to walk it off. After all this time, I still sometimes cannot keep myself from acting like a stupid fish. Or playing like one for that matter.

After this, I don't remember much from the session except for the redneck muslim (very odd) who slow-rolled Davey with a set of fours! This dude flopped 5 sets in about an hour and a half. Count 'em: deuces, fours, sevens, tens, aces. It was ridiculous. Finally, I swallowed my pride and left. Between my tilt and some of the moronics on display, I didn't feel like I could play properly any longer. Time to call it a night.

I might head back Sunday for the $10k gtd if my head is right. We'll see.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

Little Less Conversation

2009-02-26T20:20:00.004-06:00

26 Feb 09 - Ok, I relent. I will post some actual poker content tomorrow. After my session, I'll show up with something from the tournament. If Davey's lucky, I will break out some terminology like "smooth" and "re-pop". Just for his reading enjoyment.

In reality, I am hopeful to recount some thought-provoking scenarios, and I'm hopeful to make my first final table of the year. Albeit in a low level tourney. Pathetic. 2 months in, and nothing to show for it. Gotta crawl to walk.

I'm playing the 11am superstack donkament at the Beau, and hoping that some of the GCP hoodlums will show up as well. See you out there.

'got more action than my man john woo... got mad hits like i was rod carew'

Mr. High and Mighty

2009-02-20T23:27:00.002-06:00

20 Feb 09 - " "

Buildings crumble and peasants cower at the sound of your name

But was it god that gave you that power, or is it merely fame?

Once again the great have fallen

Did you really have that far to go?

Lessons

2009-02-09T17:14:00.007-06:00

9 Feb 09 - In the midst of making the transition to a heavy volume of online poker, I have noticed a stark contrast between the live and the online game. In terms of the online world, I really feel like a novice and understand that I have a lot to learn - which, in most respects, is exciting because it keeps me interested.

For those of you that have frequented this blog space, you will know that the large majority of my content is filled with tournaments and hands I've played. And it is generally with much ease that I can recount the intricate details, and for whatever reason, it seems interesting to me. But after playing so many hands of online poker over the last few weeks, I couldn't remember anything worthy to post; recounting hands on here suddenly seemed to evade me. And the reason that I finally settled on was this: information. In the online game, the dearth of information is striking. Decision-making and whatnot seems to be of a much simpler basis - that is, hand selection, range assignment, and pot equity. And this got to me to thinking about a lot of things, one of which is add-on software and HUDs but that is a tangential topic for another day. Another was the fact that I just took for granted the abundance of available information in the live game, and the role and ease at which it helped me make decisions.

And so the immediacy of the lesson I've learned thus far from playing online is the critical importance of fundamentals. For the past year or so, I have worked hard on improving my fundamentals and technical skills and I realize that I'm still not there yet. And as I start to focus the lionshare of my poker in the online world, I realize how much fundamentals matter. In a live game/tournament, many good players overcome their technical deficiencies through their superior abilities to process information, read their opponents with precision, or simply bludgeon a visibly-weak opponent with brute aggression. But as a result, these good players often fail to master the routine, rote, empirical technical skills that separate the men from the boys. Think of the raw 19 year old basketball phenom who can jump out of the gym, but can't defend the pick-and-roll.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen players who I consider to be excellent players make extremely poor fundamental plays at crucial times. And I wonder how many times I did this myself. Or if I continue to do so? Now, all of my decision-making is stripped down to the basics and I feel liberated: position, hand selection, gap concept, pot odds. That's it.

For those of you out there who play by feel and play by instinct, by all means, continue to do so. I mean that sincerely. You have to largely operate in your comfort zone, and you shouldn't start mindf*cking yourself by thinking too much. But I encourage everyone to spend their time away from the felt working on their technical skills and learning some of the math. A lot of this you'll realize that you already understand intuitively. And some things will open your eyes. But at the end of the day, it will make you a better, more well-rounded player. I'm pretty sure that's what we're all striving for.

For me, I can say it's regretable that I didn't allocate my focus to fundamentals earlier in my poker career. And why? Because I would be much farther along in my evolution as a player than I am today. But if we weren't constantly challenged by poker, I guess we wouldn't keep coming back for more.

Good luck to everyone and thanks for reading....

ps... when I attain a bigger online score than $200, I'll be sure to post it :-)

Catching Up

2009-02-02T09:31:00.005-06:00

2 Feb 09 - Yes, I have been lazy with documenting my poker travails over the past few weeks. Partly, I was disappointed that I missed out on the WPT Beau $10k and so I decided to take my ball and go home. But yes, I have been playing....

So a little background on 2009. First of all, I have made the commitment to focus exclusively on donkaments this year. My cash game play will go way down, as I'm going to spend the next 11 months improving my MTT game. Certainly, in my opinion, cash game play is more consistently profitable with less volatile, short-term variance and seems like a better (smarter?) route for those who want to carve out a living full time. For me, however, MTT is what captures my attention these days. And being focused on winning is critically important, and I just don't feel like I possess that trait in the cash games. I am more inclined to the constantly changing landscape of MTT; the fundamental mathematics behind it; and the competitive, survival aspect to it. So... there you have it. MTT it is for 2009.

With all that said, I did not go to Tunica mainly because my bankroll is insufficient for a week-long trip with buy-ins, expenses, and what-not. I am doing my best to follow some reasonable semblance of bankroll management, and it would be a gross misapplication of my roll to spend $2k on buy-ins by basically taking shots all week against large fields. Also, my sometimes backer(s) aren't as keen on spending $$$ on poker in the current economy... so I am on my own. Which is cool, because I haven't really done much to warrant backing anyway. And honestly, I would rather grind up a roll and do it myself. The idea of makeup and 50% equity seem gross when you finally score big. It's bittersweet, so I am going to find a way around it.

With that said, I have played a few of the weeklys at the Beau, per usual, with nothing interesting to report. The poker room has been pretty sparse, which may be due to a variety of factors, but hopefully due to the conclusion of the WPT and the crowds at Tunica. Hope so. I have also been playing online. This is one of my main goals for the year - to play online as much, if not more, than live. Putting in MTT volume is very difficult live, and it just hampers the learning curve to play only 3 tourneys per week. For instance, I played around ~125 tourneys in 2008. I played 40 in the last week online. In the last week, I have played 3500 hands online in about 50 hours. By my calculations, that amount of hands would take you 14 8-hour days to achieve live. The amount of experience and the raw volume of hands you can attain online is unrivaled, and it's just stupid for me to pretend that option doesn't exist...

So, that's the roadmap for '09. I hope to continue to improve and post some worthy results. I also may be at the Beau this Sat/Sun for the $20k gtd weekend events. Good luck to everyone playing, most notably Mean Gene who is headed to Vegas for the Venetian events.

Later.

Dead to Rights

2009-01-14T08:33:00.005-06:00

13 January 09 - I did NOT qualify for the $10k main event that's starting in about 3 hours. It was disappointing for me, as there are not many opportunities for me to participate in $10k buy-in tourneys over the course of the year. The manner in which it played out was even more frustrating...

I played in the 4pm $1060 mega with about 120 other players. This meant I basically needed to make the final table to win a seat. There were a lot of well-known "name" pros wandering around, and many of them in this satellite. My table draw was pretty good all things considered, with Scott Clements in the 5 seat and Scott Montgomery in the 7 seat. For the first few levels, I played straightforward, won a few pots, and built my stack. Then in the third level at at 100/200, this hand came up. From MP, Clements opens for 525 and the action folds to me in the SB. I squeeze out AsAd and 3-bet to 1300. He doesn't take too long to call, and the flop is 8-high rainbow. I continue for 2100 and Clements tanks it. He studies me for a bit, then moves in for 6000 total and I call. He turns over two black tens, and I'm in great shape until the Td comes off on the turn. For real? Sigh.....

I double him up, and am left with a short stack. Then at 150/300 (25a), with about 2200 behind, the action folds to me in the CO and I move in with K9dd and get called from the BB, a really nice good ol' boy from Shreveport who was a total clown and a poor player. He turns over the very powerful K3o. The flop is K9x, but somehow I don't win this pot either. The turn/riv come JJ and we chop the f*cking pot. Unbelievable...

Finally, Montgomery sent me home when I shoved ATo into his BB; he called with 88 and it held. I walked out of there super-tilted, and basically blew off online superstar and former Gulf Coast rounder D. Fish who tried to talk with me. Darryll, if you happen to read this, I apologize for my unfriendliness in the moment.

At any rate, that's what we sign up for as poker players. It's over and I'll be back. I also want to wish my friend Brandon Jarrett good luck in the main event. It seems like a break-through moment for him, and I'm predicting that Brandon will show up at the final table this weekend. Brandon is running super-hot; he's a great player; and one of the nice guys in the poker world.

Ok. That's it for now....

Do or Die

2009-01-13T13:15:00.003-06:00

13 January 09 - I'm off to play a satellite for the main event of the WPT at the Beau. The main event starts at noon tomorrow (Wed).

It's important for me to qualify for this $10k...

Wish me luck. I'll need a little bit...

New Year, Same as the Old Year

2009-01-04T08:16:00.007-06:00

03 January 09 - Shaking off the rust. Happy New Year. I took a rather extended respite from cards for about two weeks at the end of the year... After an exact two-week break, I got back into action at Event #1 of the WPT Southern Poker Championship at the Beau. This was a $340 buy-in event that attracted a staggering crowd of 1,005 players. I got to the Beau around 10:30a and was in line to register at 10:45a for the noon start time. After standing in a massive line for a looooong time, I finally sat down to play as an alternate at 1:15 PM.

By this point of the tourney, it was 20 minutes into the 2nd level of 50/100; I sat with a full starting stack of 5k. And on the third hand of my day--before I even had a chance to get settled in after a long break--I found myself putting my entire stack in the middle on the flop. Welcome back. OTB, I find 99 after a random dude from MP opened for 325. I called, and we saw the flop heads-up. The flop was an interesting Qs Js 9c, and he continued for 700. I was not completely crazy about this flop; though I do have a big hand, it's not close to the nuts and it can get much worse on the turn. At any rate, I raised to 2100 and he went into the tank. Finally, he moved all in and I called immediately. He showed a very strange AJo, and I doubled through right off the bat. Huge.

I won a couple of other nice pots early on - a noticeable one with AhJd on this board: Jh 5h x Qh; I moved in on the turn, my opponent mucked and I continued to build. Then, I dropped off a bit, folded for awhile, then mixed it up in this hand. At 200/400 (50a), my stack was 13k+ when I found two black fives OTB. The pot had been opened UTG for 1200 by this older dude who was playing a ton of pots, and playing aggressive-spastic. Another 60's-ish woman called from MP, and I felt like stacks were deep enough multi-way to set-mine so I called as well. The flop was Q99, and they both checked to me. I wasn't really sure here because I felt like the older dude could've flopped a monster; for the first time today, he checked the flop after he opened PF. I figured the woman for a mid-pair or a broadway Ace, so her check seemed straight-forward. I briefly considered betting at the healthy pot of 4700, but I decided on peeling one time. And magically, the 5h burned and turned. The old dude bet 3000, the lady mucked, and I thought to myself "watch what you wish for" and moved it all in again. He immediately said "I gotta call ya, buddy" and I flinched, but he turned over AA. My hand held, I doubled again, and put a dent into his once large-ish stack. Less than an hour later, I got the rest of it when my AKhh outflopped his 88 AIPF.

When the field started to narrow, I was moved to another table that was playing very loose-aggressive. At 400/800 (100a), I got pretty lucky for a big pot in a blind-v-blind confrontation. Folded to me in the SB, I look down at K7dd and contemplate a raise size. My stack was around 37k and the dude in the BB--a good player--was sitting on what appeared to be 15k-ish. So I decided to gamble a bit and make him play for his stack if he had anything, so I just shipped it in and he insta-called with AQo. #$%$%#$%^. Luckily the board ran out 7xxKx, and I stacked up what turned out to be 17k from him. In a twist of poker justice, the dude who filled his seat tortured me in 3 hands that put a dent in my stack a few levels later. This guy was in his 50's and played very solid, seemingly very tight poker. In the first hand, at 1000/2000 (300a), the action folds to me in MP and I look down at AQo. Before I have a chance to act, the dude to my left mistakenly says "raise" and I say "hang on, dude." This was sort of a clusterf*ck for me but I decided to proceed as normal and opened to 5100. I figured if he 3-bet me after I opened, then I would just muck. But, he just called and we saw a flop heads-up of AKTr. I disliked this flop--and I think I would have disliked most flops anyway. So I checked and he smacked the pot for a nearly PSB of 15k. I agonized and tanked, but I was basically just stalling. I folded and he showed me AK.

A bit later at 1000/2000, it folds to me in the SB and I open 42ss for 5600 and he immediately makes it 14k. ^$$%^*&. I muck. Then just a few hands later, this brutal hand comes up. In the CO, I find QQ and open for just 4500 (hoping one of the shorty blinds shoves on me). The dude to my left again 3-bets me to 11k and everyone else folds. When the hand started, my stack was around 47k and he has me covered. Against almost every other player, I would 4-bet shove this without thinking. But with our recent history and what-not, it just did not seem like he would be getting out of line here. The small raise also indicated this. So I took the weird option of just calling, without much of a flop plan, and we saw a flop of J99. I checked to him and he bet 18k into 28k ((in what seems like a trend lately, I am finding myself in brutal spots with QQ)). Again I agonized and this time I really tanked it. He appeared pretty calm and very strong, and I asked him "Kings, right?" He didn't budge or blink and I watched him for a bit; I just knew I was crushed. And really, what am I beating that he is 3-betting me PF with? I don't beat AA, KK or JJ. I am ahead of TT, AK, and air; but he didn't 3-bet me PF with AK earlier (and even if he did this time, would he smack the pot on the flop?), and this line with TT didn't seem wholly plausible either for him. So again.... I f*cking folded and, for whatever reason, he decided to show two black Kings. He really shouldn't have done this for several reasons, and it didn't even make me feel good to see that I made the right laydown. Instead, I felt the tilt coming on.

At this point in the tourney, we are down to about 90 from original 1000. The money started at 63, and unlike most tourneys that pay out 10%, this event paid out only 6% (likely due to the main event seat giveway that comes along with first place). Play was moving a steady pace, and I settled on basically ignoring the impending bubble factors: no fold to the money, no bubble uber-aggression. Just straightforward play. And then I lost the key pot of my day that reeeeeaaaaaalllllllllly hurt. After rebuilding my stack to about 50k, I opened QJdd from the CO to 7500 at 1500/3000 (400a). I got called by this weak-loose dude in the SB. The flop was Q56, two clubs. He insta-shoved his remaining 22k into the pot of ~20k. I couldn't find a fold with the draw possibilities out there and his general style of play, so I called and he showed Q9ss. The turn was a putrid 9h and he doubled through me, leaving me on life support with just about 20k remaining. I got up and walked around for a bit and tried to clear my head. Finally, with about 22k at 1500/3000, the action folds to this older dude in the SB who limps in. In the BB, the first card I see is the Ad and I ship it in. He says "ok, I'll call" and turns over AKss. %$^$^%$%$%$. The board bricked, and I busted in a very, very frustrating and painful 74th place. No money.

Back with more later, and good luck to those of you playing.

The Horror

2008-12-21T08:32:00.004-06:00

20 December 08 - Saturday was absolute torture. Cold-decked probably doesn't even do it justice. I played the 11AM $15k gtd tourney and outlasted half of the field essentially by folding for several hours. I finally busted with 55, which was the highest pair I saw all tourney. I did have the opportunity to sit next to this old-timer who told me several stories of his days in old Vegas, playing lowball and Omaha with Doyle, Billy Baxter, Chip Reese, et al. This guy was a riot, he was gambling (sensibly) at every opportunity, and I pretty much believed the many stories he was telling.

After enduring the boredom of the tourney, I sat in a 1/2 NL game and within the first 3 hours, I was stuck 2 buy-ins. This was due to me playing almost every hand, and also due to a few suckouts and coolers. I clawed my way back to even thanks to a series of over-aggressive plays, some of which were questionable. For 30 minutes or so, our table played 4-handed after our table "broke." During this time, I scooped small pot after small pot by raising pre and c-betting. This helped me get back above water.

Then, the table filled up and one of my buddies from the poker room--Yan--sat 3 to my right. And within 30 minutes of him sitting, he and I played one of the more memorable hands I've played in awhile. After a series of limpers, I raise T9cc to $13 and five people call. The flop is Qc Jc 4h, and everyone checks to me. With about $80 in the pot, I'm looking to build the pot a bit more here with a maaaaasssssssive draw. So I bet $45, and Yan then check-raises to $110. After eyeballing his stack and contemplating my options, I shove and have him covered. Due to his stack size, I feel like I have to put it in on the flop because he's probably committed once when we get to the turn. I know he has a big hand/big draw here but (1) I am never folding this hand (2) I don't want to make a weird play on the turn if I whiff 4th street (3) there is a slight chance I have some fold equity on the flop.... Now Yan and I have played a lot of poker together--both in tournaments and in cash games--and we both have a well-defined knowledge of how the other plays. For what it's worth, he plays very well and at this specific table, there's not much reason for me to get into it with him; but I'm not into that soft-play/check it down bullsh*t that so many friendly foes resort to, so I'm gonna shove him just like I would anyone else... So anyway, he looks at me kinda sideways, smiles a bit, and says in his French-American accent "ah cahn't put you on Zjacks or Queens" and then turns over QJhh ((because we are heads-up in a cash game, exposing your cards is legal)). I just say "do what you gotta do," basically encouraging him to get it in there. At this point, we are exactly flipping for this pot. So he does the classic shrug-shove and moves the remainder of his money in the pot. The turn straightens me out with the Kh, but the river brings an ugly 6h and redraws him the flush! It was about a $1k pot. Great hand. Poor result. And I honestly wasn't even upset. That hand played itself.

After that hand I sat for several more hours and couldn't win another pot to save my freaking life. I "salvaged" the day by making a nice laydown, especially considering I was stuck. UTG+2, this young-ish girl opened for $21 and Yan 3-bet to $45 from MP. OTB, I look down at two red queens and just drop my head into my hands like some stupid fish. Now this chick hasn't played too many hands; she makes a bigger-than-normal opening raise; and has been re-raised by a player who is very aware of what is going on at the table. So I sigh and muck my hand. The chick then shoves and Yan insta-calls. She turns over KK, he tables AA, and the board bricks out and he wins another big pot. That was the story of my Saturday. And it was time to leave after that.

Hope everyone out there has a nice Christmas/year-end break. And I really hope the Saints don't bone it against the Lions today...

Touch of Grey

2008-12-16T17:49:00.006-06:00

13 December 08 - It feels like I haven't seen the sun in a month. I'm in a fog. The pervasive darkness, the rain, the cold, the clouds, and the ubiquitous state of grey foster a leaden sense of torpor that I fight every winter. And again, here I am.

With that said, here's a morsel of poker from the weekend ((predictably, 3 days after the fact)).

I went to the Beau on Saturday for a long day of poker. First off, I left my house at 7:30a and put on the exact same clothes I wore on Friday ((this feels like signs of degeneracy, but doesn't worry me because I am very far from a degenerate gambler)). I was certainly not going to play on an empty stomach, and I didn't have sh*t in my house, so I listlessly settled on eating Hardees in my car on the way there. Instead of doing something normal, I ordered these strawberry biscuits. Basically, these are biscuits drowned in strawberry jelly and cinnamon roll icing. It's impossible to eat these f*cking things without a fork; and the pitiful, plastic fork I received with my meal splintered into 4 pieces on my initial attempt to "fork" the biscuit. Again, it's a f*cking joke that I'm even eating this sh*t. What is wrong with me?!? So anyway, I resort to mauling these things with my hands and, in the process, get sh*t all over my hands, my shirt, my beard, and everywhere else. And remember, I am also trying to safely navigate the roadways. It was abject disaster, and it was a harbinger for the day.

Before the 11 AM tourney, I played in a 2/5 NL game There was a ton of money on this table, and there were 3 deep-stacked frogs donking around in every pot. I won a good amount in about an hour by flopping a set of deuces and also on this interesting hand:

From the CO, I raise Q9cc to $20 and get called by the button (very solid player) and the two frogs in the blinds. The flop is Ad xx, 2 clubs. The frogs check, I bet $65, the button calls (oops), and the BB frog calls. A little less than $300 in the pot. The turn is an offsuit 9, which theoretically gives me a few more outs if my flush draw is clean. The BB frog checks again, and I splash 8 green chips ($200) into the pot hoping these dudes think I have at least AK here. The button thinks for awhile and folds (AJ, he later says). But Mr. BB Frog calls again! No! Now I don't even really want to hit my flush b/c I'll probably get stacked. Well the river is a meaningless red brick, and BB frog checks a third time. There's about $700 in the pot. I have about a pot-sized bet left, and this dude has like $1500 behind. I can't decide if he has a weak Ace, a flush draw, TT, or a middle set. I'm almost certain he can't have a set b/c I would've heard from him by the turn, considering the flush draw on board. And I think he folds TT on the turn. So what is it? I don't know this dude at all though, and really, I'm uncertain of what to do here. There's no way I'm checking and giving up; I don't think I have much showdown value with a measly pair of nines and I'm way too obstinate to give up now. So I do something I almost never do, and really despise doing, and say "how much will you call?" He just laughs and shrugs, and I clinch my stomach muscles and bet $410. He laughs, checks his cards, and mucks A7o face-up. Whew........... I muck my hand and drag the pot. After this, I was intent on skipping the tourney and staying in the cash game, but then I saw the likes of Cub and John D. in the tourney, so I decided to register and sat down a few hands in.

And it was painful. But it was quick.

Three times at 25/50, I opened a pot PF and got 3-bet by this middle-eastern (I think?) guy three to my right. This dude, in my opinion, is a good player. He is noticeably aggressive and difficult to read. I've played with him in several tourneys, and I like his style of play. In reality his tourney fundamentals and technical aspects seem poor, but his aggression and intuitive poker sense are very strong and compensate for his weaknesses. It seemed like he was coming after me, but I wasn't going to do anything prideful, impulsive, or dumb. In the aforementioned three hands, I either folded pre-flop or check-folded the flop. I was out of position each time, and this is a sign that this dude was outplaying me.

So here's the "best" hand of the day... By 50/100, my stack had dipped to 4100 (starting 6k stack). UTG+1, I find two black queens and open for 275. It folds around to my nemesis, and he 3-bets--for the 4th time--to 750. Now... in a vacuum, this is the ideal spot for a 4-bet shove. I started with 40-ish bbs (an ideal 4-bet shove stack); I got raised for the umpteenth time by this super-aggressive dude with a lot of chips; and I have close to a premium holding. However, with our previous history, I did not think he would be raising me light here-- he is good enough to know that I will eventually play back at him, and I think he's going to be ready for me when I do. And this seems like that spot. So I feel seriously mentally clusterf*cked here. The proper fundamental is the shove; my instinct says otherwise. I know logically--without a doubt--I should be shoving. But I also feel like the very worst he has right here, right now is AK. Maybe, maybe JJ. So I make a sub-optimal choice and just call--this is bad b/c I just called off 25% of my stack OOP and will likely be faced with a tough decision on the flop. So the flop rainbows rags, and I check to him. He moves me in. And I think, think some more, and I hate myself for not shoving pre. Finally, finally, I fold and he flips over KK. F*ck me already. Why am I calling OOP then check/folding 25% of my stack here?!?!? Terrible.

Then, about 10 minutes later, he busts me. After 5 players limp to me in the SB, I look down at Q8o, complete, and the BB checks his option. 7-handed, 700 in the pot. The flop is 8xx, two hearts. I check; it checks around to my nemesis and he bets 550. The button also calls and makes the pot ~1800. I have 3500 behind, and for the second time today, I have no clue what I should do here. I feel sure one of them is drawing to hearts, and I think one of them may have a limp-worthy 87/98/T8/J8 bullsh*t hand. So I just shove my stack in the middle, and both of these d*ckheads call me. They check the turn/riv. The dude to my right turns over AThh for a missed flush, and my nemesis turns over K9hh for a missed flush, but a rivered pair of nines. Whatever. Buh-bye. I am out.

For the next 6 hours or so, I drank several beers and donked aorund in the 1/2 NL game and gave away some $$. Real good.

So that's it for now.

rg

Not Much

2008-12-12T21:33:00.004-06:00

12 December 08 - I don't have too much today. I apathetically missed all of the NOLA Harrah's events, and I didn't even make it there for a mega into the main event. It was disappointing that I didn't go, especially considering I was rolled for it. I have no other excuse save for sheer laziness. But whatever. WPT is coming to the Beau in less than a month, so that should be fun. I'm expecting a large turnout next month.

I played the 11AM tourney today and chopped it 4 ways. At this point, I am way too lazy to recount any if it. All I remember was rivering quad 7's to get us to one table. I was happy to book a winner and keep my hot streak intact.

Back tomorrow for the $10k gtd at 11AM.

Peace.

On a Roll

2008-12-04T23:14:00.004-06:00

4 December 08 - I bombed the 1/2 NL cash game at the Beau to the tune of $1500+ profit over the last two days. Just run over by deck. It was unreal. I played 7 hours on Wednesday and racked up +$740. Today I played for a meager 3 hours and racked up +$820.

I'm playing the $20k gtd at the Beau on Saturday, then a mega at Harrah's NOLA on Sunday. I really, really want to play in the $5k main event on Monday. We'll see how it turns out.

See ya.

Closing Out November

2008-11-29T21:43:00.014-06:00

29 November 08 - Here's a recap of two poker sessions if you care to read.

The first session was a cash game on Wednesday that I got (again) abused in. In the end, I didn't walk away with a big loss but I had a frustrating day, all against the same dude. First of all, Wednesday at the Beau brought out a lot of people for the holiday weekend. The poker room was pretty filled up and I played in a really loose NL game that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I took a series of beats and coolers against this one total lunatic mouthbreather. This maniac was playing almost every hand, and he was playing aggressively at every chance. When I first sat, mouthbreather was to my left and I played these two hands against him. In the first hand, I rivered the nut straight with 76, bet $50 into him, see him raise to $125, have me shove, and him call. Improbably, he had 76 also and we chopped the pot. In another hand, after it was folded to me, I blind-raised the CO to $16 and he called. The flop was Kd 6d x, and I looked at my cards and found Q9dd. I checked, he bet $25, I called. The turn was the 2d, completing my flush. I again checked, looking for 2 streets of value. This time he bet $60, and again I called. Pot about $200. The river was the 5d, but it didn't really worry me. I bet $115 and he min-raised me to $230. I almost, almost shoved but opted to call and he showed the naked Ad for the rivered nut flush. Wasn't too happy there.

So soon after, I moved into the open seat on mouthbreather's left and it got worse. In the BB, I find 89ss in a multiway pot raised to $20. I call and the pot is $100. The flop comes 5c 6c 7x and I flop gin. I check, the original raiser bets $35, mouthbreather calls, and I just call. I'm sure one of them is on the flush draw, so I want to see the turn before I smack the pot with a solid bet. The turn is some meaningless red brick, and I shove my remaining $275 into the pot of about $200. I'm not really sure this is a good play. What do you think? I did it for a variety of reasons but mostly to get called light. Well the original raiser folds, but mouthbreather calls me with the J4cc. And you know how it ended, and I was on super-tilt. I go bust and reload for $300.

Then this happens on the very next freaking hand! In the SB, I look down at AKo in another multiway pot raised pot to $20. Again, I call and the flop is K3x. I check, some random dude bets $30 into about $100, and then mouthbreather raises to $70. With the action back on me, I check-shove the remainder of my 2nd buy-in into the middle. Even amidst the tilt, this seems like the right thing to do. The first dude mucks, but mouthbreather calls and shows KQo. The turn and river come 33, and we chop the f*cking pot!!

The final (almost) nail in the coffin happened here. UTG, I raise AKcc to $16 and 4 people call. The flop is A5x, one club. The mouthbreather checks from the BB, I bet $45 into about $65 and the mouthbreather check-raises me to $100. It was just getting brutal at this point. I just called and the turn was the Tc, giving me TPTK + the nut flush draw. Unfortunately, mouthbreather shoved for like $800+ which was a great play by him. I tanked for a solid three minutes and finally folded for a questionable reason, mainly because I did not want to get stacked TWICE by this dude. I'm sure that's not right, but it's what I did. Luckily, he showed me a set of fives and I escaped disaster. Ultimately, mouthbreather donked off over $900, about half of which was mine. I didn't get any of it back. After about a 9 hour session, I racked up with a $400 loser.

*******************************************************************************

After an enjoyable Thurs-Fri for Thanksgiving, I headed back the Beau on Saturday for the $10k gtd tourney. The field was a surprisingly low 75, and I started out playing horrendously. After seeing my 6k stack sink to 3500 just 20 minutes in, I then got rolling and had 9000 by 50/100. Then I got completely owned by this Asian dude in this hand. Folded to me OTB, I raise K7cc to 250 and the SB folds. The Asian dude in the BB called and the flop was the K65, 2 spades. He checked, I bet 400 into 550 and he min-raised me to 800. Hmmm. This raise seemed, to me, like a pot-builder with a pretty big draw. It didn't feel like he was trying to push me out of the pot. So I called, and the turn bricked. Now he bets 2600 into about 2100, and this reconfirmed my notion that he was on a draw. Now it looked like he was buying it. He only had 1400 behind, so I moved him in, and he snap-called with AA. Owned. It was a great hand, but unfortunately I was on the wrong end of it. I doubled him up, and grinded a short stack for much of the day.

When we got down to two tables, I won two big hands that got me to the final table. At 800/1600 (200a), I open-shoved about 17k from MP with KQss. The action folded to the BB who debated for a bit and called with AKo. Luckily, I flopped a Q, sucked out, and got a critical double-up. Not long after, he and I went at it again. Down to about 15 players, he raised my BB to 5000 at 500/1000 (300a). In the BB, I look down at AA for the first time all day. I briefly contemplate a raise size/flop plan, then I just shove 40k back at him and he snap-calls me with 88. I doubled again and decimated his stack. The final table played fairly long, and I sat back as the cards were looking ugly. After most of the short stacks busted, I played wide open when we were 6-handed. I ended up busting 4th and I took a tough beat at the end for over 60% of the chips in play. I wasn't too dispirited, all things considered today; I'm happy to book another final table.

OK. I'm tired of writing this drivel. I'll be at Harrah's WSOP this week in NOLA. Later.

Redeemed

2008-11-22T23:50:00.005-06:00

22 November 08 - I salvaged an otherwise nondescript week by chopping the $10k gtd on Saturday. After a bad (bad) cash session on Wednesday and a worthless performance in Friday's tourney, I somewhat redeemed myself with a $2k pick-up today.

There were about 75 players in the field, and this was the first time I played in the Beau's new-ish $10k Saturday guarantee. The buy-in was a reasonable $235 with 6k chips and 30 min levels. For the most part, I won most of pots I entered, as I played pretty tight throughout. I did get caught bluffing in one pot midway through the tourney. I ultimately had to make a horrific fold on the turn, price considered, with no pair-no draw-no hope; I completely mangled the hand and deserved what I got.

I then rallied when I got it in and doubled with red QQ vs 99 right before a break. Soon thereafter, I got it in again for a huge pot with about 18 players left. I don't really remember the specifics, but I opened the CO with AKo and this dude I am relatively familiar with shoved from the SB and I made the academic call. He turned over JJ and the flop came JTx. Right as I called for it, a sweet, red Q broadwayed the turn and I faded his redraw on 5th street. I had him marginally covered and coasted to the final table with a lot of chips.

The final table played longer than normal, as the short stacks refused to get busted. I kept myself above average in two keys pots with JJ, a small miracle in itself. When we finally got down to 5 players, with mostly evenly-distributed stacks and enormous blinds/antes, we chip-chopped and everyone got an equitable deal. Hoorah.

That's it for now.

Stupid

2008-11-15T20:08:00.006-06:00

15 November 08 - I put in a good day of play today, but walked away feeling frustrated. I got to the Beau early and played the cash game for an hour-and-a-half, racked up with $300 profit, and free-rolled myself into the 11 AM $15k gtd.

The tourney had a great turnout of 110 (first place $6k+) and I was very, very disappointed when I busted 15th after playing spot-on all day. I spent the majority of the tourney playing really aggressive; I made a concerted effort to mix in more PF 3-bets and run a few more bluffs. Everything was going smoothly and I had a plus-average 40k+ stack with about 27 people left. I got sideways in two pots at the end - one an unfortunate board, the other a bad decision. In the first hand, I got my opponent's chips in the middle for an important pot with AKdd vs QJo. Unfortunately, the board four-flushed and his Js took down the pot.

Then, after playing quite snug for awhile, I'm UTG and I squeeze out TT at 1000/2000 (300a). I opened for 5500 and the action folded around to this random guy in the SB who had recently moved to our table. He 3-bet AI and I was put to a seemingly tough decision. First off all, when I first looked down at TT, the first thing I said to myself was "don't get married to this hand." Then after seeing the SB shove 22k, I immediately felt beat while noticing the easy, painless manner with which he shoved. At this point, the pot is now 31.9k and it's 16.5k for me to call and this represents most of my chips. So I'm getting just shy of 2:1, meaning I need about 33% equity for a neutral/+ev call. And I also know offhand that TT has exactly 33% equity vs JJ+,AKo,AKs (if you add in a few more hands to this range, then I am WAY getting the right price). But doing all this dumb-ass math f*cked me up. Basically, I felt strongly that I was beat but completely disregarded my instinct for the math and made the call. I even said aloud right as I put my chips in the pot "I shouldn't do this." The dude predictably turned over JJ, doubled through me, and decimated by stack. Stupid.

I was out shortly thereafter and was really angry at myself for falling short like that. But whatever. It's over now. It's all good. There's always something to learn in poker. After the tourney, I met up with some friends at 875 and enjoyed a whiskey which dulled the pain a bit.

Ok, that's it. Let's geaux Saints. Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaasssse.

"tear down the walls that hold me inside
feel the sunlight on my face
take shelter from the poision rain"

IP Poker Classic Main Event

2008-11-09T20:43:00.007-06:00

8-9 November 08 - The last two days have been a bit surreal for me. I played the main event of the IP Poker Classic this weekend, and finished 6^th of 113 for a nice cash. Saturday was a long, grueling day as we played down to the final 9 players. The day started at noon and ended right at 3 AM. The long day was a result of the tournament structure which was, by all accounts, exceptional. We started with 10k chips at 25-25 with one hour levels. This allowed for a lot of play throughout the tournament. The IP should be commended for this structure.

I got seated at the same starting table as SouthPaw and we both spent the first few hours of the tournament getting abused by this LSU fan sitting on my direct right. This dude was catching cards like it was his job. It was unreal. I can recall him outflopping Davey’s KK at least two times with some garbage Ace, and then flopping a set of Aces against Davey’s top and bottom pair. It was a credit to Davey that he didn’t go broke there….

This same dude flopped quad 3’s on me, but mangled his play and allowed me to slip away without getting busted, which I surely would have if he had just slowed down. At 50/100, he raised to 350 from MP and I flat-called with red JJ figuring I was ahead here. The flop was 335 and he led out for 400 and I pretty quickly made it 1100. He fidgeted around a bit and called. The turn bricked and he donked into me for 1200. I sat for a second and thought. And figured him for 66-88 or AK/AQ. So I raised to 3000, and he re-raised to 7500. At that point, I decided to give up and muck because I gave him credit for a poorly played 5’s full. If he just calls my turn raise and checks the river, there’s about a 75% chance I shove on the end, and he could’ve sent me packing. But I snuck away.

From that point, I managed a short stack for the majority of the tournament—maybe ten hours of play on Saturday. At one point, I was down to 7000 at 200/400 (50a). In a blind vs blind pot, with me in the SB holding JT, I flopped 98x and check-raised all in and got called by the BB with 92o. I turned a sweet-looking red Q for the nuts and doubled up. I sat with that stack for a long time, as the cards were evading me and there didn’t seem to be any good spots to pick out. Then at 400/800 (75a), I was down low again at 13k when this hand came up. UTG, this middle-aged dude with a killer Rollie Fingers ‘stache opened for 3500. From MP, this young knowledgeable player adorned in a “Hoddy Toddy” t-shirt and Ole Miss cap 3-bet to 12k. The action folded around to me in the BB and I squeeze out two black jacks. Now, here’s a situation that is dictated mostly by stack size but also by the players in the hand. In most live tourneys with standard, passive rocks, a MP re-raise usually means a big hand: QQ+. Against the young breed of internet-schooled aggression, a MP 3-bet can mean a host of things. Mainly it means it could be Q7 suited or AA. So with that in mind, I felt good enough about getting it in here with JJ against this dude’s range. So……. Fingers folds and Hoddy Toddy calls with the predictable AK. Continuing to run good, my hand held and I doubled (and then some with the dead money from Fingers).

After the dinner break and a few hours of play, we combined to 3 tables, 9 handed. At this point, I got moved to a table with a ton of chips and two particularly strong players. To my direct left in the one seat with a healthy stack of chips was this dude. I played relatively snug with my awkward stack size and doubled to about 40k when I 3-bet shoved AKo from the button and got called by 66 and flopped a K. Again, running good.

I then donked off a lot of it in this hand that was probably the most interesting hand of the tournament. From MP, this mid 30’s good ol’ boy opened his first pot in 45 minutes. He opened for 3000 at 500/1000 (100a). OTB, this dude, a very strong online player, shoves his remaining 18k. So I look down in the BB at TT, and realize I can just fold pretty easily. Then I think maybe if I shove, I can push the MP dude out of the hand—he was playing really tight—as long as he doesn’t have KK or AA. I felt like he would fold QQ for his stack if I shoved. That way, I could play heads-up against a button shove with pretty good equity with the dead money in there. So I shoved. The good ol’ boy agonized for a bit and finally folded his two jacks. Right when I'm feeling like a genuis, the button turned over two black Aces and I doubled him up. Perfect.

When we got down to 21 or so, I got moved to a table with Leif Force two to my left. He was a nice guy with a pretty fierce stare. I picked up 3 pots or so at this table and stayed afloat. At this point, it was nearing midnight when we combined to two tables. From here, we got down to 13 pretty quickly. I had re-built my stack during this time with ATdd out of the SB on a flop of KTx, two diamonds. I got it in vs. an OESD and I busted my only player of the event. Then play turned into an unimaginable grind fest for what seemed like hours on end. With 9 of the remaining 13 getting paid, busting at this point would be painful. Unfathomably, with 11 players left, I found myself with the shortest remaining stack but kept a positive mindset. Around 2:40 AM, this fortuitous scenario unfolded on the other table that was playing 6 handed: I hear from the dealer “all-in, re-raise, call.” The chip-leader at the time called two all-ins with QQ, and was up against A8o and TT. He flopped a set of Q’s, won an enormous pot, and ended play for the night. I breathed a sigh of relief.

So now it’s 3AM and we’re resuming the final table at noon. I check my text messages to see that my buddy who backed me had booked me a room at the Beau. This was huge!! I was facing the prospect of either driving back to Mobile, then right back to Biloxi; staying up all night; or sleeping in my car for 3-4 hours. All unappealing choices. Luckily I got the room, and basically fell asleep in my clothes.

Going into the final table, I was the short stack and was down to 25k when I tripled up early on. At this point, one player had busted on the very first hand when he regrettably overplayed 99 and got looked up—and busted--by KK for an enormous pot. So….. soon after, I open-shoved the hijack with QJss and got called by BOTH blinds, one with a horrific AQ and one with TT. I flopped a J, it held, and I tripled up. Easy game. Unfortunately, I soon lost about 30k of it when I misplayed TT. Brandon opened for 12000 at 1500-3000 (300a) from MP and I look down at TT on the button. My stack size was awkward for a 3-bet because it commits me if I raise to like 35,000; I have to call a 4-bet shove and I have to stick it in on the flop regardless; there’s no way I can raise-fold 50% of my stack here. Also, if I do get 4-bet shoved on by Brandon then I am crushed 99% of the time. Folding is really bad because I’m ahead of his range. So I settled on calling here and hopefully inducing a squeeze by the chipleader to my direct left, who was prone to LAG squeeze at every opportunity. Unfortunately, he mucked but the BB cold called. This usually means a very big hand, but it didn’t necessarily mean it for this dude. The flop was A7x (two diamonds) and they checked to me. I felt like I was good here, but I also remember watching Brandon check-call 3 streets on an A high flop with AK late last night. With that in mind, I checked behind to control the pot a bit. The turn was an unfriendly-ish K and we went check-check-check. The river was the 8d, putting the flush on board. The BB again checked and Brandon bet 16,000 into roughly 41,000. I really felt like I was getting valued here, but it also seemed sort of post-oaky. The problem was that I don’t really beat anything here except for 99, but I called anyway without thinking it all the way through. Brandon showed 87hh and took down a nice pot. And I was a bit tilty there for a second for rushing my call.

When we were 7 handed, I doubled with 99 vs 77 when I flopped a set. This propelled me to a playable stack in relation to the blinds and antes, but it also represented the second to smallest stack. I lost a pot with AJ that I feel I played a bit too weakly PF—I raised the button, the chipleader in the SB 3-bet me (perhaps light), and I just called. And ended up folding the flop. With my image and a 4-bet shove PF, he can’t really call with anything but the top of his range (which is wide) but I didn’t pull the trigger, mainly because I have nightmares about AJ.

I then dwindled down to the short stack at about 90k when I called a raise with 66 out of the SB. On a dry flop of 335 (remember that flop?) I check-shoved all in and got called by 99 and busted in 6^th place. At this point, I had decided to start making moves at pots because the chips were concentrated in two spots and I wanted to have a chance for first. It didn’t quite work this time but good enough….

That’s it for now. I’m going rest.

Peace

No Cigar

2008-10-19T08:17:00.002-05:00

18 October 08 - Not quite. I finished 16th of 100+ in the $15k gtd at the Beau yesterday. It was a frustrating way to finish....

I faded away with a whimper and let my stack dwindle away during the 800/1600 (300a) and 1000/2000 (300a) levels. I went through a dry spell and didn't pick up many playable hands for what seemed like almost 90 minutes at the end. When we got down to 3 tables, this dude was moved to my left and I let it hamper my ability to steal. I failed to adjust my "spots" and this kept me from picking up uncontested pots at a critical time. In reality, I just didn't adjust properly to the inflection which is something I generally do well.

I'm not going to recount any hands because it seems boring right now. Instead, I am going to drink coffee and get ready to watch the Saints roll.

Who Dat.

rg

Three and Out

2008-10-17T15:16:00.004-05:00

17 October 08 - Hell. No good today. I played three levels and got busted. I played a lot of hands; I hit a lot of flops; and I lost all my chips. Not sure what went wrong, but this is how it went down.

On the first hand of the day, I find A3ss and limp the CO and we see a flop 4 handed. The flop comes 2h 5s 6s and this crazy-insane middle-aged dude bets 50 and I raise to 150 to build the pot a little. He calls and the Jd hits the turn and he checks. I bet 300 and he calls. The 4s rivers; he checks; I bet 700; he calls. And I take down a nice pot.

I gave it back (and then some) to another dude when I limped KQo from the SB with several others. After a K-high flop, I check-called 200 from this relatively solid player in MP. I planned on leading the turn, but decided against it when an offsuit J hit; this was right in his wheelhouse. I checked and he then made a strange bet of 1000 into a pot of 600. I really should've just folded here for several reasons - at this point, I was likely either way ahead or way behind; the pot was small; this dude was solid; I was OOP; and if I call the turn, I generally have to call a bricked river. Unfortunately, I stubbornly called ("I gots top pair, I ain't folding!"). The river bricked; I checked and said to him "not too much." He bet 1000 again; I called; and he showed KJ. Donktastic. I talked him into value-ing me. Perfect. Stupid.

At 50/100, I got counterfeited out of a big pot when I raised a multi-way limped pot with AQo out of the SB. Two others called and we saw a flop of AAT. The turn and river came running JJ and I chopped the large pot with this dude's A4.

A few hands later, I limped 98cc from the button and passively chased a flush to the river--which I missed--and unnecessarily spewed too many chips. Of all the hands I played today, I hated the way I played this one the most. It was just so weak and pathetic - this was a perfect opportunity to raise the flop and then fire two barrells regardless. But instead, I call-call-folded. It was a clinic in terrible.

Finally, I busted on the last hand before the break. Very strange hand. Four people limped to me in the BB and I looked down at A7dd. Normally, if my stack is deep enough, I am raising here about 80% and just limping 20%. I had been really active and my opens and 3-bets weren't getting any respect; and I didn't really want to play a marginal ace OOP in a potentially bloated pot here. So I decided to just check my option and see a flop. Which was..... 568 with two hearts. The SB curiously donk-led for 300 into 4 other people. ((This guy had been playing really goofy, and at one point earlier, had check-raised with A2 on an ATx flop against the tighest and maybe best player at the table; he then played the turn and riv like the nuts and lost the pot. It was pretty obvious he was way behind, yet he was oblivious. This was stuck in my head.)) So.........at this point, I really wanted to raise because I didn't think he was strong, but there were too many people behind me to do this. So I called as did one other guy to my left. The turn was an offsuit Q and he again led for just 700. I weakly settled on a call and the dude to my left folded. The river brought the 9s and completed my straight. He bet 1000; I made it 2500; and he made it 6000. Which was basically the rest of my stack. At this point, I thought we were chopping (I also thought it was posibble he rivered a set of nines). I said to him "if you got it, you got it" and moved the rest of my chips in. He called, turned over T7 for the holy nuts, and sent me on my way. So be it.

I will say this, I got in a lot of play for the three meager levels I played today. In my opinion, the three hands I played the most poorly and lost with--KQo, 98cc, A7dd--were all passively played. That should tell you something. Passive play won't get you anywhere, especially in tournament poker.

I'll be back tomorrow for the $15k gtd at 11 AM. I am REALLY looking forward to playing well and making the final table. Hope to see you out there.

Later.

rg

ps>>>> happy bday to my sis tomorrow

Watch What You Wish For

2008-10-11T12:15:00.010-05:00

10 October 08 - I finished 9th in the tournament yesterday. AK no good vs A9 AIPF.

I had a pretty solid day, and built a big stack early on. I won a nice pot when I limped ATo UTG at 25/50. The board ended up: AKxTA. I called a checkraise on the turn, then bet the river. My opponent folded and showed me KT.

I then proceeded to crack this dude's set of aces on this hand. At 25/50, with stack at about 15k, I limped 5h 4d from the button in a multi-way pot. The SB raised to 250 and two dudes from MP called. With 850-ish in the pot, I called the additional 200 and decided to see a flop in position. The flop came Kx 5d 3d. The SB led out for 1000 and the two guys in MP folded. I decided to speculate a bit for a couple of reasons: one, I was pretty sure where this dude was; two, there were a lot of turns cards that may scare him or help me. So the turn peels the Ad and he, surprisingly, checks to me. I check-back and the river delivers the 2d, giving me the straight flush. Luck box. He checks again, I bet 1500 and he insta-called. He showed some disgust in mucking AAA, and I took down another nice pot. For a bit, he was passively-aggressively mumbling stuff about me playing 54 and the like. He would get me back later.

Then I got moved to a new table and lost a big pot against this older gentleman I've played several tournaments with. At 200/400 (50a), my stack was around 28k and I was rolling. After several limpers, I look down at red 77 from the CO and raise to 1450. Everyone folds save for the older guy to my direct right. The flop comes 7c 5c 2x. He checks to me and I bet 3600 into roughly 5100 (should I bet more here?). After some deliberation, he called and I was trying to figure out what was going on. He's a good player, fairly aggressive and not afraid to put chips into the pot. I felt like he was about to checkraise here, so I reasonably assumed he could have the club draw (also, this is a great board for checking-raising a big flush draw). But, I had been playing really aggressive against the passive table so it was likely he thought the board missed me. Hmmm. So..... the turn is the Kc and he checks and I check-back. The river bricks out and he shoves his remaining 9k, and puts me in a gross spot. It was a great play by him whether he had it or not. I didn't think for too long, and called. He showed A3cc for the nuts, and I paid him off for a well-played hand. My stack was cut in half.

I collected myself and folded for a good while. I even folded some playable hands in potentially awkward spots because I wanted to prevent myself from overplaying anything marginal. It was important for me to win the next pot I played. Then, I doubled up with 92dd from the SB when I called a limped multi-way pot. So much for not playing anything marginal. The flop came 987 with one diamond and I questionably check-shoved a half-pot bet from the dude in position (I really think open-shoving was the move here, but I failed to execute it). Anyway, he called me with AJo getting a great price. I dodged the outs and doubled up. I then busted him about 5 hands later with JJ vs A5o AIPF.

I won a few more hands and picked up some uncontested pots when we were playing shorthanded, and got to the final table with a nice stack. Unfortunately, I lost all of it to the AAA guy from earlier. The action folded to me OTB and I looked down at AKss. I overshoved like 23BBs, begging to get called from him in the BB. Guess you should watch what you wish for. I knew he wouldn't believe me, and if I could double-through him, I'd have a pretty significant chip lead. Well he thought for a bit, and called with A9o. The 9d was in the door and I was gone. Alas.

Ok..... I have 30+ beers in my fridge; a smattering of chicken, pork, and sausage for the grill; and some LSU friends from NOLA at my house for the weekend. Should be a fun day and a great game tonight.

Later.

rg

Reflections

2008-10-09T16:50:00.004-05:00

9 October 08 - It's been a year since I started blogging about my adventures on the poker felt. It's been a strange, exciting, frustrating, educational, and fulfilling trip. And it's only just begun. Looking back, I wouldn't change my decisions to radically alter my life and go for it. Sometimes you have shed the sweet security and comfort of familiarity and prosperity and take a chance or two. Life's too short to play it safe.

Over the last year and a half, I have transitioned from being primarily a cash game player to almost strictly a tournament player today. And even though I am yet to win anything of note, I am not discouraged. I am hopeful and motivated to attack my future.

When I look back on my game year over year, I sit in amazement at what I have learned and how, in my mind, I was such a lesser player back then. I also know that as I write this, I will ultimately look back and say "yeah, I was pretty terrible then too." I think most of you know what I mean. But to me, this seems like a proven method for improving and evolving. If you are not brutally honest, if you are not lucidly objective, if you don't actively try to grow, and if you are not your own harshest critic, then the path to success will be littered with obstacles impeding your progress. It's a fine line between failure and success. And the only true measure of failure is quitting or giving up. And the true measure of success? Well I guess that depends on your own definition. To me, it mostly means posting real results, achieving a lifestyle of freedom, and fulfilling the goals of my own personal challenges and expectation. It's there for the taking. You just have to want it badly enough. And today I find that upon reflection, this is what is most relevant. How badly do I really want it? I think I know the answer, but at some point it will inevitably manifest itself.....

"ain't nobody messing with you but you"

***************************************************************************

What else? I played the tourney last night and didn't get much done at all. I spent most of the evening with Rick and Lake on my direct left which, needless to say, hampered my play. Lake was on fire and running over the table with his trademark aggression and incessant chatter until he finally got moved to another table. Amazingly, I doubled up three times from a micro-stack: the first time with ATdd vs J9cc; the second time with TT vs JJ - I brutal beat this dude with runner-runner flush after he turned a set of Jacks (now that my friends is a bad beat); then finally with AA vs AKss. Unable to stand prosperity, I open-shoved 10k from the button at 600/1200 (200a) with 65 and got called by the BB's A5. And I was out. I didn't even get to play many hands last night - I was mostly folding and shoving which really makes for a boring night. I'll be back Friday for the 11AM donkfest, the weekly tourney I am most fond of. Hope to see you out there.

Let's Geaux Tigers.

Peace.

rg

Now What?

2008-10-04T17:20:00.003-05:00

3 October 08 - FYI: If you play the noon tourneys at the Beau - these are the Fri/Sat/Sun events - they now start at 11 AM in case you didn't know. I would recommend checking the Beau's website periodically to make sure of the start times.

I have one hand I'm going to post from the tournament yesterday. It was a weird spot and I was unsure of the best way to play it. If anyone out there wants to post their comments/advice, they are welcomed.

This is at 100/200.

Villian1 opens the CO for 600. This dude was a good, young-ish player. He was opening a lot of pots and was playing aggressively from the start. I have played with him before and this is the same style he has previously played. When he raised, the first thing I said to myself was "I'm re-raising him if I have any type of hand."

The button folds, but the SB re-raises to 1200. I would characterize this dude as moderately knowledgeable, but he had made a few spastic plays. He was in his 50's and adorned in WSOP gear.

In the BB, I look down at Qd Qc.

What do I do? Call or 4-bet? And why? And if I 4-bet, what should I do if either of them shoves? All 3 of us have stacks of 10k+ so we are all relatively deep enough here.

As it played it out, I just called. As did villian1 in the CO. Pot is 3600.

Flop: Kd 7d 3d. The SB checks. My action. Now what?

Other stuff:

* still smoke-free...
* i got lsu+4 vs. bama against my buddy Jay for a bennie; he made a half-drunken bet with me, and i took it for the showdown next month; you would not believe the pro-tide/anti-tiger rhetoric he was spewing...
* i took a 20 hr/wk sales job working from home on mon-tues; i had to swallow my pride and do it; money is tight, the economy is sh*t, i have an assload of bills, and my bank account can use some extra funds...
* it was great to drink some dome foam and watch the deuce beat on the niners last wknd in the dome; just like old times...

Ok. That's it. Later.

rg

Up in Smoke

2008-09-30T14:02:00.004-05:00

30 September 08 - I probably shouldn't post this, but it's the only shot I have of accomplishing this goal.

In a continued effort towards self-improvement, I am undertaking the task of quitting smoking effective October 1, 2008.

My initial goal is to simply make it to the end of the year. Now I am a moderate smoker; I don't smoke every day; but I have smoked consistenly for a long time now (15 years?). And I really want to quit. I mostly smoke when I'm playing poker, which happens to be relatively frequently. It seems like this would be easy, but I have been met with futility every time I have attempted this in the past.

To keep myself honest, here's a deal for everyone for the remainder of this year. If for some reason you see me smoking, I will buy you in to any weekly $130 weekly tourney at the Beau (I get 50% of your action). This should be ample deterrent. Good luck me.

I'll post some poker stuff later.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going smoke for the next ten hours.

Sept Tourney Series

2008-09-26T09:27:00.003-05:00

26 September 08 - The month-end tournament series started yesterday at the Beau, and runs through this Sunday. This is a series of 4 tourneys with additional cash prizes for the top 5 overall players from the four tournaments. My plan was to play 3 events.... I'll be in the Dome for the Saints game so Sunday's tourney is off the schedule. I'm still debating on whether I'm playing on Saturday.

Well last night, I played in the first tourney and finished in a frustrating 15th place. I was eager to make the final table and get a jump start on the points leader board, and I should have! I got off to a great start and was abusing my table by playing pretty loose and really aggressive. It paid off and I had a whole lot of chips with about 35 players left. Then it went way sideways... once with a failed J7o bluff; once with A9 when I mucked the turn; once with TT UTG that I opened and then folded to a 3-bet from the rock to my direct left; once with KQ vs AK. All the Corona I was drinking didn't help much either down the stretch.

Overall I thought I played fairly well, but I hated how I got my money in at the end. I impetuously shoved a K56 board from the BB with 47dd and got busted by some dude who called with 87o. Real good then.

I'm going play the noon guarantee today - I think it's a $15k gtd. Then, Saturday's tourney is a $30k gtd, I believe. If I can final table today, then I'll be back on Saturday.

Then, it's to the Dome on Sunday to watch the Saints hopefully abuse J'Tard O'Sullivan.

Greatness

2008-09-24T23:07:00.005-05:00

24 September 08 - I was just contemplating the greatness of the zinger. That is all.

Alive and Kicking

2008-09-19T20:43:00.006-05:00

19 September 08 - I feel like I owe the world some poker content, so I'm here to do my part. I haven't posted much in the last 2 weeks, mostly due to the lethargy that periodically consumes me. I have, though, been playing... Last week, I had a rollercoaster ride with one brutal cash session in the 2-5 NL game at the Beau, one good session playing 2-5, a "meh" session playing 1-2, and then ended the week with a moribound performance in the tournament. My decision-making, radar, and discipline were absolutely putrid.

Then, this week I decided to undertake the onerous process of painting my living room, hallway, and stairwell. This has consumed all of my time because I want to be done with it--I don't like letting sh*t linger. At any rate, I finally took a break to play the nooner at the Beau today.

I was really looking forward to playing, refreshed and all......

I showed up a bit late and missed the first few hands of the tourney. When I finally sat down, I played the first hand I was dealt UTG--88. I then proceeded to donk off 25% of my starting stack to this dude who flopped a set of fours. Well then. I did continue to be active for the first 3 levels before the break, and amazingly ran my stack up from the starting stack of 10k to 50k+ in three levels. My loose, active image really helped me as I made several hands, and got paid on almost all of them. The first hand of note came up with me calling a raise in position in a 4-way pot with 98ss. After a flop of A67r, I was heads up with this older lady to my right. The turn ginned a T and I just called her 1k bet. When the board paired the A on 5th street, I finally settled on min-raising her 1k bet looking for some thin-ish value and really hoping she wasn't on AT. She called me, showed AJ, and paid me off. I then busted her about ten hands later with QQ vs her 55 when she donked all-in into me on the ragged flop.

A bit later, after 4 limps to me in the BB at 100/200, I look down at TT and raise to 1200. I got called from this old calling station dude in MP. The flop came Kh Qh Td, and I felt a bit uneasy with the prospects of how this hand might turn out. At any rate, I led for 1800 and he called. Once again, the turn peeled beautifully with the Ks, filling me up. I checked and this dude stared at the board for a bit and then bet 2k. With only about 7k behind, I stuck it in and he insta-called. I asked "KQ?" but he shook his head negatively and showed AK and I doubled up when the river bricked. Then, on the last hand before the break, I won a monster pot that catapulted me to a huge stack......

Still at 100/200, I open AJo from MP to 550 and get called from both of the blinds. The flop is J43 (2 diamonds) and they both check to me. I lead for essentially a PSB of 1600 and the SB calls; the BB then shoves his remaining 8k into the pot. Now.... I have a weird history of making questionable, or just downright, boneheaded decisions on the last hand before breaks. I'm not sure why, but that weird deja vu crept up on me here. Now, my stack was about 35k+ before the hand and I have both of these dudes well covered. The pot is just shy of 13k and it's only 6400 to call. Those odds are plenty good when I may already have 66% equity (if he's on a diamond draw) and would only need 33% with those pot odds; this doesn't even take into account an overcall from the SB. But if he has a set, then equity and pot odds are wholly moot. Still, I have this goofy feeling lingering. Now this guy is a tight, passive player and I've played a few tourneys with him. This move seemed way out of line for his style, and it was just weird. I didn't see him check-shoving a set with a FD on board (though he sure could have with consideration to my active image). Anyway, I thought for a clock-worthy duration and then I casually said "well, I guess you have a flush draw and want me to fold." Just seeing if I could get a reaction from him. When I said this, he glanced at me with "oh shit" written all over his face, and I blink-called when I saw it. Incredibly the SB overcalled for the remainder of his stack and turned over QTdd while the BB showed A8dd. The turn and river bricked and I busted both of them and dragged a huge pot five minutes into the break.

Then it got ugly for me when I tangled with the second biggest stack at the table. At 200/400, I open KK to 1600 from MP. This young-ish guy who regularly frequents the Beau's tourneys 3-bet to 4600 with a stack of about 25k. This dude is pretty loose aggressive, but he is good. After I ask him how much he has left, he said "about 21k." Then he says, "go ahead, whatever you want to do." Like goading me to 4-bet. Which I don't do. I just call, but I also don't formulate a plan for the flop. I acted a bit too quickly here. After calling PF, I check in the dark and the flop rags out. He moves in for his last 21k and I call without any deliberation. He, predictably, turns over AA and I double him to 50k while relegating my stack to 35k-ish. Amazingly, I didn't tilt. Not even the least bit. Even after playing this hand so poorly. In my mind, thinking back on the action, I felt beat hence just calling his raise and not putting him in PF. My first instinct was correct, but I just boned it on the flop.

After this, I tightened up and folded for a long stretch. I also did one shot of tequila because all of the folding was boring me.

Down to two tables, I re-built my stack with QQ vs JJ AIPF. I thieved a few pots as well.... I also shoved over a c-bet from this spewtard with complete air and he quickly folded the dry flop. When the final table commenced, the blind and antes were really ridiculous and play turned into shovefest, as it frequently does. I tripled up for a big stack with 97ss on a 9xx (2 spade board). This put me 4th in chips at the table. Then, 2 hands later in the SB, I look down at AKhh after a short stack shove and a call from this lunatic in MP. As is standard, I stuck it all in and the MP dude called me. The short stack showed Q7cc and the lunatic JJ. Unfortunately, I missed and the lunatic won a huge pot and busted me in the process. 7th place for a decent profit, but a bit disappointing nonetheless. Still, I'm happy to cash.

Ok...... so tomorrow $15k gtd at the Beau. I'm 50/50 on playing.

Also, the Beau is running some type of tournament series at the end of next week. It's either 3 or 4 tourneys with guarantees and a points leaderboard with $10k in additional prizes split among the top-5 in points. Something like that......

I don't want to write anymore tonight. Bye.

rg

ps.... Who Dat

Anybody Home?

2008-09-18T18:20:00.003-05:00

18 September 08 -

I'm alive (sort of).
I'm in the midst of painting my house (f*ck me).
I'm almost done (not really).
I'm going win a poker tournament tomorrow (probably not).
I'll show up with a post tomorrow night if the women fade me (almost certainly).

Peace.

rg

Feels Like Home

2008-09-05T19:55:00.010-05:00

5 September 08 - Let's try to re-establish some normalcy here. I'm going to talk about my poker day. But first, let me preface this by saying this will likely be a long (and rambling) post. Gonna channel my inner Monkey. Give yourself some time if you are remotely interested in digesting this drivel.

First things first. I enjoyed the two events I played at GCPC and was disappointed to see the remainder get cancelled, but there was just no choice. And..... this probably saved me money, so it's all good. In the 2nd event, I finished about 100 of 600 for nothing worthy of note. I also got the chance to meet DBourg--southpaw--and he made a nice run in the second event. Something like 18th of 600. Pretty strong.

Second things second. I had a group of family + friends + dogs + cats + a few random visitors take refuge at my house during Hurry-cane Gustav. This was from Friday of last week to Wednesday of this week. I also hosted, on Saturday, the 12th annual fantasy football draft with my buddies from college. We made our picks and the out-of-towners got the f*ck outta dodge soon thereafter. The last week was pretty insane, all things considered. Perhaps most importantly, there was a memorable, late night pool party at my house during this time. Let's just leave it at that. That was basically the highlight of my 8 days away from poker.

Now my life is a bit back to normal.

So today, I was ready to get back into action at the Beau. I decided on playing the noon tourney instead of a cash session. And within the first hour of the tournament, I witnessed some of the most mindless, head-scratching, woeful poker I have seen in quite some time. It was just downright awful for a bit there. I couldn't exactly decipher a reason why... At any rate, this is how it got going for me today. After registering for the tourney, hitting the restroom, and smoking a cig, I missed my first few hands but got back in time for my first BB. The action folded around to the CO, an intense, loose, middle-aged Asian dude I've played with before. He opens for 450. Yes, the super-standard, 9x open raise. So the button and SB fold, and I look down at what else? AA. The first hand I've seen in 8 days.

Well here we go already. I just call, preparing to check-raise this fool as soon as possible. The flop comes K65 and I check to him. He checks behind and the Jh hits the turn. I lead for 600 into about 900 and he doesn't take long to raise me to 2600. Really? I exercise my best discretion and just call instead of getting crazy right off the bat. The river sorta bricks--it's an offsuit 4--and I check. He bets 3000 and I call immediately. He shows 65 for two-pair and right off the bat, Ive lost 6k from my 10k starting stack. Real good then.

I folded for awhile, and then doubled up on back-to-back hands from this incredibly insane player in the 10 seat. This was at 50/100. In the first hand, I opened 88 UTG for 325 and got two callers. I checked the flop and check-called the turn on this board: A383 (two hearts). When the Qh hit the river, I bet 2000 and the insane dude put me all-in and doubled me up. This got me to about 9k. On the very next hand, I look down at KThh in the BB and play a limped hand with 6 others. The flop is Kxx (2 diamonds). I check and, amazingly, it checks around. After the turn bricked, I bet 600 into 700-ish and only the insane dude called. The river bricked out black and I checked to the crazy man, planning to check-call whatever he bet. He, of course, drawls "Ahm awl een." There's like 2k in the pot. I have 8k+ behind and he has me covered. I didn't think for more than 5 seconds and called. Top pair against this whack job seemed like the immortal nuts. He showed T9o for absolutely nothing, and doubled me up again to 20k-ish.

It kept getting better. After the break, I busted 3 dudes almost in succession. Once with AA vs 66 AIPF. Once with AJ vs KT AIPF. And once with QQ vs AJ AIPF (and I flopped Q88). Then it started to go downhill. I think I misplayed two hands and resorted to some nittiness previously unseen in my poker game. This scares me a little bit. So the very next hand after my QQ (Q88) hand, I'm in the SB and the action folds to my friend Edie (sp?) and she raises the CO to 3300 at 400/800. Now I have played a TON with Edie and I know her game really well. At least I think I do. She is not messing around here, maybe 99+, AQ+. I do think, though, that the size of her raise is important. But I didn't really think about it. The button folds and I look down at QQ (again!!) with about 45k behind. After her raise, Edie has about 19k behind. I can't really decide what to do here (though it's safe to assume that iso-raising is pretty standard); and I don't even consider the BB behind me. With all that said, I just call planning to get it in if no K or A flops. Well the BB, a young loose player who I considered to be a strong opponent, 3bets to 25k (leaving about 11k behind). He had been playing really aggressive so this was not out of the ordinary. Edie thinks for a bit and folds, and I'm thinking "what the f*ck" and I'm also thinking I have him totally crushed. Just a perfect squeeze opportunity, and this dude is DEFINITELY capable of making this play. But I also give him credit for knowing that I have not yet played or shown down anything but a big hand. So why is he raising? Does he want me to shove on him? He is definitely pot-committed. Or at least it appears so. I look at him and ask him a few questions, but he has his LSU hat pulled way down low; and his face, the little I can see of it, is beet f*cking red. Damn. I tuck tail and muck my QQ with the thought that I didn't need to gamble there b/c of my stack. Is this terrible? It feels like it when I write it out. At the break, the dude swore to me he had AA but I don't really believe him.

We got moved to the last two tables and I didn't see too many hands when I sat down. Then, this happened. At 600/1200, the dude UTG-- a dude I have played a lot of tournaments with--opens for 4000. This dude is generally tight, and he's a good player. Another dude from MP calls and then a Hoyt Corkins dead-ringer look-alike makes it 11,000. Folded back to me in the BB, I squeeze out red JJ and feel utterly flummoxed. At this point, there are 18 players left and I have 53k-ish in my stack. 50k is an average final table stack, so I'm in good shape at this point. I glance to my left but I can't pick up anything from Mr. UTG or the MP dude. Pseudo-Hoyt has me barley covered and I have the other two well-covered. Again, I can't figure out what to do. A call seems bad because it is pricing in a marginal hand behind me, thus negating the value of my hand. A 4bet here is essentially a shove because once I put in the raise, I am never folding the flop with consideration to my stack and the size of the pot. And do I really want to put it all in with JJ with my stack right now? F*ck me. Seriously, what should I do? Someone please help.

As it played out, I reluctantly folded as did the two others, and Pseudo-Hoyt took it down. I guess I got f*cking squeezed again?!? Unfortunately, I had not played with the guy at all so I didn't have any read on him. After a moment or so of reflection, I felt like puking for folding two premium hands pre-flop in the last 20 minutes or so. Seriously? What, exactly, am I waiting for? I mean, like 4 or 5 months ago, there is absolutely no freaking chance I was folding here. Just never. And now I did it twice in 20 minutes? What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on?

Then I lost a good chunk of my stack to Hoyt with TT vs his KJ on a flop of JJ3. I folded the turn after he check-raised the flop and then bet the turn. He showed his hand to the table even though he shouldn't have. After that hand, the blinds and antes were devouring me and I ultimately shoved A7dd into Pseudo-Hoyt's AA and he sent me on my way in 11th place. Back to normal? Back to normal, indeed. Back on the muthaf*ckin' bubble. I guess all is right in the world.

Pretty weird day, but it was nice to play live poker. I'll be back on Saturday for a long session. Then I'll be acting a total fool on Sunday for the Saints game. I cannot wait to watch The Saints!!

Hope all is well out there. See ya soon.

rg

Gustav Update

2008-09-02T11:38:00.003-05:00

02 September 08 - Just a quick update. No poker action to report, obviously. I'm housing some friends, family and animals who evacuated NOLA. I'm glad to provide some shelter, air conditioning, and refuge.....

Hope all my friends in NOLA are doing well, and that you get back into your homes soon.

More later.....

rg

GCPC Update - Event 1

2008-08-27T18:48:00.003-05:00

27 August 08 - I played in the first event at the Gulf Coast Poker Championships today. This event was a $340 buy-in NLHE tourney and the field was pretty enormous. I don't know an exact number but it was 500+ and maybe even closer to 600. The structure for this was really good as well - 40 min levels, 5k starting stack, blinds open at 25/50.

My table draw was pretty good, composed mostly of 50's+ rocks with two younger internet type dudes as well. On top of that, I was familiar with four of the players so things were looking up from the get go. On the first hand of the day, I found AQo in the hijack, raised it to 125, then triple barrelled the dry board and finally got my opponent to muck. Think I came out of the gates a bit too jacked up, but it worked out. After the hand, I told myself to settle the f*ck down.

This was all for naught. For the next 30 minutes or so, I was very active opening a lot of pots and such. The table was playing really tight, so I attempted to take advantage. Unfortunately, my activity caused my stack to dwindle a bit as I was missing flops and basically giving up thereafter. Then, with about 10 min left in level 1, I played the most interesting hand of the day. Again from the hijack, I open 97hh to 125 and get called by the dude to my direct left - this guy was one of the younger, internet dudes and was also playing LAG and seemingly wide open. I knew it wasn't going to be too long before we got into it. So, the flop comes 76x with two clubs. I lead for 300 into the 325 pot. This dude takes no time at all and insta-raises me to 1200. I sat and thought on it for awhile. Really, this screamed overs + a flush draw, but it could very well be 88-TT, a marginal Ace, or total air. I really, really discounted the possibility of a set due to the timing of his raise. It just seems like he would've taken some time to think about extraction, value, and board texture if he did indeed flop a set. So....... I called his raise, planning to see how he handled the turn (and I was almost scared for it to brick red b/c I felt like I would go with my hand if so). Well the Qs peeled on the turn, missing the flush but maybe improving a hand like KQ/QJ/QTcc. So I checked and he settled on 1700 into about 2700. To me, this was a great bet size on his part; I definitely gave this dude credit for being a thinking player, and that bet size can mean continuation, value, or inducement. I just couldn't deduce any meaning from it. Finally, I decided to give up and give him credit for either: a hand that beat mine; or for outplaying me in this spot.

Not too long after this, at 50/100, I found myself all-in on two occassions: once with T9hh on a flop of KT9; and a second time with J9dd on a board of Ad Th 9h Qd. I didn't get called in either spot, but the J9dd hand was pretty insane and my heart was racing like MAD when I check-shoved my opponent's likely Ax on the turn. That hand alone may the day worthwhile.

Then the bust hand came up at 150/300 (25a), the fourth level. With my stack lazily lingering around 5k, I found AJcc in MP and opened for 750. OTB, the tightest dude at the table 3bet to 2000. Now this guy has played maybe 5 hands in 3+ hours, and now he shows up with his first PF 3bet. I can almost certainly assign him QQ+ here, and maybe a JJ/AKs b/c by now he sees me as a bit loose. With my stack and such, I'm normally 4bet shoving any hand I'm opening here. But there's just no way that's profitable against this guy in this spot. Folding was the safe--and maybe better--option but I settled on calling and praying to get hit hard by the flop. Which happened when I saw Jd 4c 6c. Now it was really easy to get my chips in, so I made a retarded bet of 1000 all but assuring this dude would set me in. And he did and turned over KK. I missed my 14 outs 2x and that was my day.

Today was really fun. I can't wait to get back in there tomorrow. And for those of you who are going to the Beau for this event, there are a ton of people playing. The registration lines are long, so give yourself ample time to get there and get registered. Back with more tomorrow.

rg

Calm Before the Storm

2008-08-22T16:23:00.004-05:00

22 August 08 - I don't have a lot for you today, but let me catch up a bit. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon on my roof patching some questionable spots with tar. This was my first run at roof maintenance. And very likely my last. All I know is that my method for tarring the roof would be the exact opposite of how professional roofers would recommend. It was brutal, it was freaking hot, and I got tar all over myself. This was my first experience with tar (and again, hopefully my last). I mean, I have trouble with super-glue. Tar is on another level entirely. Holy hell. I had to shave part of my right leg b/c it was severely tarred. Son of a bitch. Then, I tried to patch a spot near my chimney but abandoned it because I almost plummetted to my death. My roof is on like a 75 degree angle so it's basically suicide in some spots. After awhile, I just relented and decided I'd rather risk a little rain in the house than a broken back. This seems like a reasonable decision, I think.

I played only 2 poker sessions this week, and have been laying low in anticipation of the Gulf Coast Poker Championships next week. I want to be well-rested and well-rolled so there didn't seem to be any reason to go crazy this week. The next week-and-a-half should be fun, and I am really looking forward to playing in these bigger events with presumably tougher fields. It will be a good barometer for me and I am anxious to compete. I am confident. My plan is to play 3-4 events and one mega-satellite for the $5k main event. It also looks like I'll be selling off some action so I will get into some of these events on the cheap.

This week, I hosted a home game with several of my friends. We had a 7-handed NL cash game that got a little bit bloody. Luckily I got hit by the deck and came out with a nice profit, especially since this is usually a small-ish social gathering and not always a cutthroat poker game. But it was pretty wide open this time around.

I also played the Friday nooner at the Beau and was out really early--in the 4th level. The hands I played were 97ss, T8ss, AQo, ATss, A4cc, and 99. I lost every hand, except for the A4cc which I chopped. It was strange. I didn't connect on many flops and never even had the option of chasing. The two best hands I opened with--AQ and 99--were met by 3bets by the two tightest players at the table. Yep, it was one of those days. I saw my stack dwindle to 5500 at 150/300 (25a). Folded to me OTB, I looked down at 99 and opened for 900. The SB, a young-ish solid, tight player, made it 5000 to go essentially setting me AI. The BB folded. I thought for a second or two and went with it. I'm not really sure why. He had not once gotten out of line or shown down anything but good hands. I even felt like I was crushed, and was really hoping to see AK or something similar. He had JJ and that was that.

More than anything, this was a mistake of discipline and frustration. I really know better. If I fold there, I still have some time before my stack is strictly shove/fold. And also, if I fold and leave my stack at ~4500ish, it would have provided some good practice at re-stealing for the remainder of the level. This is an area (re-stealing) that I want to get more adept in, and today would have been the ideal setting to practice. Re-stealing is an art and, when applied properly, can pay huge dividends in the face of rising blinds/antes. I'm more disappointed in missing this opportunity to practice than anything else. Alas.

Ok, that's it. Back soon. Peace.

rg

Tortured by a SuperNit

2008-08-15T18:42:00.008-05:00

15 August 08 - First things first. Happy birthday to me in just a few hours. I'm getting old.

I have a bunch of hands I want to share from the tournament today. My play was mediocre and I finished about 22nd or so, though I really should've done better. I think--wait, I know--I let my emotions dictate my play on a few occassions and this really derailed my momentum. And as we know, emotion is the mortal enemy of rational decision-making in poker.

Early on, I did a lot of folding. At 50/100, I found AA in the CO and raised a few limpers to 500 and got 3 callers. The flop came 2s 3c 5d and the action checked to me. I led for 1600 and got check-called by this middle-aged calling station. The 4h peeled on the turn giving me the wheel, and also giving me paranoid ideations of Mr. Calling Station potentially holding 66. Again, he check-called my turn bet of 2400. The Kc hit 5th street and again he checked. I thought about just checking behind but instead decided to fire for some more value and bet 3100. He thought for just a second and folded.

Then, at 100/200, I look down at KQss UTG+1. After the dude UTG limped, I raised to 600 and again got 3 callers. The flop came KQ8 with one spade. UTG checked, I opened for a weak-ish 1300, and this older dude in MP raised to 4000. The dude OTB folded as did the guy UTG. Now I've played a bunch with this old dude who just raised me. He seems like he'd be your standard old rock, but I've seen this dude make some super-spastic, head-scratching moves. I was about 95% sure I was way ahead, though 88 was definitely a possibility here. But whatever. He had only 3500 or so behind, so I decided to just 3bet AI. He agonized for just a second, muttered something about "Aces" and then called with AKo. The board bricked out and I got his stack. After the break it got better......

At 200/400 (50a), one of the night-shift dealers at Beau--Joey--opened for 1050 from the CO. In the SB, I look down at KK and decide on a call. Now..... Joey is a good player, and LAG probably doesn't even do it justice. He also has a good idea of how I play after dealing so many hands to me, so calling seems best here b/c he knows I'll call his likely wide open with a wide range of my own. In short, I'm just trying to disguise my hand a bit. The BB, the biggest flop-fearing, imagination-less SuperNit I can recall, calls the raise as well. The flop comes Txx (2 clubs) and I check. SuperNit leads for 3500, which is basically the pot. Joey thinks for a good while and then folds (what he later says was QQ - I think I believe him). After he folds, I ship my stack in and Joey starts comically praising himself for folding. This was pretty funny. And SuperNit pretty much starts whimpering. He says some stupid sh*t to me about me being on a club draw and I just keep my mouth shut. This dude is annoying me to no end with both his play and his banter. Finally he says "will you show me if I fold?" And like an amateur, I say "sure." So he mucks and I almost just mucked my hand to tilt him, but I didn't want to invite bad karma so I showed my Kings. My stack is now healthy at ~30kish.

Then it went sideways vs. SuperNit in two hands.

Again, this guy was annoying me and I knew at the time I shouldn't let it get to me. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to bust this dude sooooooooooooooooo badly. I mean, everytime he hand a hand (TT, JJ, KK) he would make these insane, huge, transparent raises PF to take down the pot. And then show his hand to the table. He was so freaking scared his hands were going to get outflopped. And this was really bothering me. So, that's the history.

At 300/600 (75a), I opened the CO for 2000 with A8ss. SuperNit shoves his remaining 7200 and the action comes back to me. Now the pot is just shy of 11k and it costs me 5.2k to call. So I'm at 2:1, but more importantly I ask myself if I'm ahead of what he's shoving. And the answer to this is almost certainly a resounding "no." If he has a premium pair other than AA, I'm about a 2:1 dog and if he has a bigger A, I'm a 3:1 dog. I'm doing all this stupid math and trying to talk myself into calling even though I know I should just go away. But I also have a healthy stack and a burning desire to send this dude railward. As I'm thinking, he says "I'll show you if you fold." Now what kind of spineless thing to say is that? Now I know he's weak, but this dude could also have like QQ or something like that and be afraid to get called. Then the devil on my right shoulder persuades me to grab a stack of yellow chips and I make the spite-call. SuperNit shows ATo and his hand holds up.

Just about 5 or so hands later, I look down at AQss UTG. I open to 1600 at 300/600 (75a). SuperNit, now in full torture mode, raises to 5000 UTG+1 and the action folds back to me. I am now fully enveloped by tilt! So I kind of collect myself, take a breath, and stand up so I can think "clearly." After the action thus far, I have about 20k behind and he has 10k behind. Against most randoms, I'm just 4bet shoving to maximize value but it's not that simple against this dude. I think about his UTG+1 3betting range and I know it's super-narrow, probably JJ+, AKs. That's about it. Without knowing the exact math--and the numbers are essentially irrelevant now (33% equity if you're interested)--I know I'm pretty far behind. I don't think he has AA, but he definitely could. I also know I should just fold and wait for an easier spot, but I am obstinate. I'm in no mood to give up the pot this easily. So my plan is to just call--a decision I pretty much despise considering I'm OOP--and get it in if I flop a straight/spade draw and most likely get it in if flop an A. So I call the additional 3400 and check in the dark. The flop is 9TJ (one spade) and he shoves his remaining 10k. I snap call, to the surprise of my table, following through with my PF plan. He turns over KK and the board, unfortunately, bricks and I double this d*ckhead up again. And now my stack is under 7k. And I'm way f*cking tilted from being stubborn.

I mean, mucking AQ PF to this dude's UTG+1 3bet is pretty close to the easiest fold in the history of poker. Yet I couldn't muster the strength to do so. And hence we see the devastating power of emotion in poker. But then, SuperNit doubles me up to give me hope. I open-shoved A7o from the CO and of course he decides to call me with QJ. I think the spite was being reciprocated. Well my hand held and I had a little bit of hope. But it was all for naught and I faded away with a mirco-stack, finally busting with Q6ss.

So there you have it. I'll probably be playing the $15k gtd on Sunday. Word.

rg

Back on Track

2008-08-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

14 August 08 - I feel good today. It's been an odd week with almost no poker, but it's been a week of restoring and enhancing my positive mental framework. Over the last year or so, I have learned much from exclusively playing poker and that list of gained wisdom is surely too exhaustive to spell out right now. But most importantly, I've learned that having a positive outlook is the greatest and most rudimentary measure of success in life. If you're not careful, poker will eviscerate your psyche and your bankroll in one fell swoop. But you know how I feel, you can't be too careful. Otherwise you lose the joy. So this week, I solely focused on doing, accomplishing, winning, and smiling..... all outside of the realm of poker. I just flushed the negativity from my system and focused on doing well whatever I happened to be doing. Success breeds confidence and that confidence, in turn, breeds more success. It's the slippery slope to victory.

Ok......sorry.... Stephen Covey temporarily hijacked my brain. I'm back now.

So obviously, there has been no live poker this week. But that will change on Friday. I'll be back for the noon tourney and then we'll see what happens from there. I can't even articulate how badly I'm ready to play poker..... Well, I guess most of you understand!

Also, I am still going strong on my pledge to be sober through the month. It has been 12 days and it's been a bit easier than I anticipated.....

More later.

rg

Fateful Grateful

2008-08-12T13:29:00.002-05:00

12 August 08 -

"Since it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose,
You and me bound to spend some time wondrin what to choose.
Goes to show, you dont ever know,
Watch each card you play and play it slow,
Wait until that deal come round,
Dont you let that deal go down, no, no.

I been gamblin hereabouts for ten good solid years,
If I told you all that went down it would burn off both of your ears.
Goes to show you dont ever know
Watch each card you play and play it slow,
Wait until that deal come round,
Dont you let that deal go down, no, no."

Chewed Up

2008-08-08T18:56:00.007-05:00

8 August 08 - Well, if they gave out bizarro prize money for bubbling a tournament, I would be significantly more wealthy today. Unbelievable. Yep, you guessed it! I finished 11th in the tournament today. Again. Lord have muthaf*ckin' mercy! I'm in a seriously ill mood right now. I'm about to go break some sh*t. I'm not sure exactly what, but those two stupid ceramic f*cking pigs in my sunroom are the leading candidates right now! I have a big ass red axe that's gonna do the dirty work.

So it goes down like this today. I was never really in jeopardy all day. And I felt like I played really well again. Maybe my "feelings" aren't all that accurate. The first 2 tables I played on were marked by stunning weakness and passivity, and I took full advantage of every opportunity. Then down to 14 players, I made a huge call for my entire stack with 3rd pair (76o) on the turn. The villain in question set me in after I checked to him, and I just didn't feel like he had it. This was a blind-v-blind situation and I also have some history with this guy. That double-up catapulted me to a healthy stack that I would ultimately lose in one hand.

Now....... when we're down to 11 players, there are 2 real short stacks on the other table and one on my table. I don't know..... I mean, I know I can just fold for a few orbits and get there. But I hate playing like that. It's just so freaking weak and it goes against the nature of what you're trying to accomplish. That is, winning all the chips. Maybe I should just be happy with cashing. I doubt it though. Maybe I should reassess my philosophy of play on the bubble--and judging by the multitude of shortcomings, that's probably a good idea--but the fundamental basis of tournament poker is to win all the chips in play. Why pass up opportunties to do so, especially when it's shorthanded and people are playing abnormally tight? Hell, I don't know. F*ck. What I do know is that there's a huge difference in wanting to win and actively trying to win.

So anyway, we're 5-handed and I open AKo UTG and get called from the SB, who is a dealer at the Beau and a good player. I wasn't crazy about getting called here, but whatever. I thought about open-shoving, but play was so tight at that point that a raise would (likely) accomplish the same thing as a shove. Maybe I'm wrong here. At any rate, The flop comes A57 (2 spades) and he checks to me. I stick it all in and he snap-calls with 55 and busts me. So ugly.

Ok. Enough. I don't want to think about bubbling any longer. There's no poker on the schedule this weekend as I have a few other engagements to attend. And at this rate, I won't be playing for awhile anyway. I am fatigued from bubbling--even if it's just these small buy-in tourneys. Also I've decided, in light of my recent drinking binges, that I'm going completely sober for the rest of the month. I'm like 90% sure I can do it. But I'm being tested today!

ps......thank god it's Who Dat football time!!

Take Heed

2008-08-07T17:33:00.001-05:00

7 August 08 - The Godfather speaks the truth.

Stat Review

2008-08-05T14:38:00.003-05:00

5 August 08- On a slow day, I wanted to post some stats from my live tournament play and see if I can garner any conclusions. This is from the last 3 months or so....

Total tournaments played: 19
* Early/middle stage bustouts: 6 (31.5%)
* Bubbles (defined as 11th-18th place): 8 (42%)
* Final tables: 5 (26.3%)

This is obviously a small sample, but let's see what we can glean if anything. First off, this represents a profit but not as much as it might seem. The 26% final table clip is good and surely represents me running above expectation. With an ITM clip of that number--either short run or long term--one can expect a healthy profit margin. Mine, without revealing actual monetary figures, isn't all that significant. Or as significant as I'd like it to be. And why? Well a few things stand out, namely no outright victories. This is bad. And it is probably a combination of playing too tight and not winning races on the bubble/at the final table. And the 42% bubble clip reinforces this. I am getting deep and busting, most likely b/c my stack is not healthy enough to sustain more than 1 or 2 beats when it counts. This is an accumulation issue. And while from a mental standpoint, the consistency of getting deep is reassuring, it's also meaningless. What this probably means is that I need to recalibrate my timing and aggression factor in order to better position myself to make it count. Who cares if I'm busting 11th or 40th? I really need to re-integrate my "who gives a f*ck" mentality when I need to employ it! It's been repressed for awhile, but I'm pretty sure I know when/how to use it now.

It seems like my tournament style has undergone a decided shift from too loose/spewy to too tight over the course of 2008. At the very least, I am now fluent in playing both styles. I need to be a bit more adaptable and fluid to find the right balance....and continue running well. I am hoping to fine tune my game in anticipation of month's end. We'll see how it turns out.

Back at it on Wednesday.

Dog Days

2008-08-03T10:59:00.005-05:00

2 August 08 - I'm suffering from an ugly hangover right now. After the poker tournament yesterday, I spent the rest of the evening/night drinking very heavily with my buddy DJC. Being one of the resident high rollers at the Beau, DJ gets the full RFB treatment and last night we took full advantage. From 875 to Coast to the High Limit room. Goose, Makers Mark, Don Julio, Corona, you name it. Lord, I feel bad right now. I think I smoked like 300 cigarettes yesterday. Excellent. I feel poorly enough that I'm missing the Sunday $20k gtd b/c my brain is just non-functional. The mere thought of computing ranges, equity, and pot odds hurts badly enough. Not to mention actually doing it.

As for poker yesterday, well.......... Historically, Saturdays have been massively bad for me over the last year. I'm not really sure if there's anything to this, but the data bears it out. Well yesterday stayed true to form. I got to the Beau at about 8:30am-ish and played the cash game for several hours before the noon tournament. I got stacked for one buy-in when I got it in on the turn with (yes!!!) AJo on this board: xxAA. After I led the turn for $50, this dumb ol' redneck stares straight at me with seeming fury and says "make it a hunnerd straight" as he sticks in a stack of red. I just shoved my stack right back at him and he snap-called with A4, and of course hit the 4c on the end. Perfect. F*cking AJ is just torturing my soul.

The $20k gtd started at noon with about 125 entrants. First place was a healthy $11k. For about four and a half hours, I battled really, really hard. I was insanely card-dead the entire time, and can only recall playing these starting hands: KQo, AJo, 44, A9ss, and 66. I ended up busting around 28th or something. It was a small miracle that I actually lasted as long as I did. This is, if nothing else, a testament to the power of folding in tournament poker. If things go a little differently at the end there, I probably have a shot at the final table despite the poor quality of hands I saw.

Ok, I can't write anymore. Back soon.

Me and The Monkey

2008-08-01T19:09:00.014-05:00

1 August 08 - As is standard, I played in the Beau's noon superstack tourney today with about 75 entrants. This was one of the stranger tournaments I have played in recent memory. I did get the opportunity to play most of the day with my friend Will, who many of you better recognize as Monkey.

The day started off routinely and by the first break, I had chipped up from 10k to about 14k. And all without showing down one hand. After the first break, things got interesting. At 200/400, I called a short stack's all-in reshove with AKss only to see him show up with red AA. Miraculously, I rivered the nut flush to bust him and chip up some more. This suckout was a harbinger of things to come--in more ways than one. About 5 hands later, another short stack shoves into my BB and I look down at AA and call. He shows JTdd and the board rolls out JJxTx. Right back at me. After that, my stack yo-yo'd up and down until we got down to 2 tables.

When we moved to table 6, I took the 9 seat and Monkey moved to the 5 seat. Neither one of us could get much going once we moved. I moved in once UTG with TT and held against the BB's ATo. With about 18 players left, Monkey called a raise in his BB with KJ and doubled through some jackleg (holding the all-powerful A2o) who called Monkey's flop shove on a board of KJx. Then, down to 14 players, we're 7-handed when this happens. At 1500/3000, I'm on life support in the BB with 13k behind. The action folds to Monkey in the cutoff, and he opens for 8k (with about another 20k behind). The button and SB fold and I squeeze out, what else, AJo. I think for just a few seconds, while having a disturbing flashback to Wednesday's tourney. Now I know Monkey's not making some stupid move, but I don't have much of choice but to ship it in here with my meager stack. Monkey obviously calls with 44 and says "good luck to both of us." Well.......the board comes xQQ66 and I deliver one of the more memorable, timely suckouts I can remember! And I didn't even realize it had happened. I pushed my chips towards Monkey and got up to leave only to see the dealer pushing the pot to me. Wow! Will, needless to say, wasn't all that enamored with the outcome.

I then limped my way to the final table and busted 10th on the second hand we play. At 2000/4000 in the BB with about 34k behind, I see a MP open to 8k and one call behind. I look down at AKo for (what I think is) a trivial shove. The original raiser insta-calls, and for the second time today I run AK into AA. But this time, I was summarily bounced from the tourney.....

"Strange days have tracked us down/They're going to destroy/our casual joys/we shall go on playing/or find a new town."

What a weird day.

$20k gtd at the Beau Sat./Sun.

rg

Guts vs Math

2008-07-31T08:34:00.011-05:00

30 July 08 - Wednesday was a profitable day, as I put in about 9 hours at the Beau. The cash game was really good, and I found the right spots to get my money in.

The 6pm superstack tourney was interesting just as well, and it presented me with a great educational spot late in the tourney. There were only about 60 players in the field, and I doubled my 10k starting stack on the second hand of play. I really found a lot of humor in this hand. Here goes.

Dude UTG limps, a bunch of limpers follow, and I limp JThh OTB. Some random dude in the SB makes it 250, UTG calls, another dude from MP calls, as do I. The flop is AKx and the SB leads for 200, UTG calls, MP folds, and with about 7:1 I decide to peel for the nuts one time. And voila. The Qs hits the turn and again the SB leads, this time for 500. The dude UTG kinda stews/hollywoods for a few seconds and then makes a comically lame min-raise to 1000. There's about 3k in the pot now. So as I'm hoping he has an AQ/KQ type of hand, I make it 4000 almost immediately. Now....the random donk in the SB gives me this stupid grin (as if I'm making a move) and then calls. Uh, hello!?! McFly, anybody home? The dude UTG starts muttering and mumbling sh*t under his breath from across the table. I hear the faint sound of "gutshot" and do my best to not start laughing. I mean, I really had to restrain myself from laughing aloud. So he finally decides to go with it and shoves his stack out there. I follow suit, and the donk in the SB finally decides he should give up on it. So the guy UTG shows AA for top flopped set, and he misses on the river and I win a huge pot! This guy bemoaned the spot and berated me a bit, but he did it to himself. Tricked himself into getting busted. Swingin' on the gallow's pole.

After that, I coasted my way down to the last two tables. I hadn't really built my stack as much as I had anticipated, but I was sitting at about 40k when this spot comes up. At 1000/2000, the action gets folded to the dude on my right who has about 100k. He's a young, aggressive and knowledgeable player--but he's very loose. So he opens for 6500 and in the cutoff I look down at AJo. My first instinct is to shove b/c I'm almost certainly ahead of his open and I have an ideally-sized re-steal stack. A shove also probably folds out some hands I don't want action from (66-99, maybe AQ). But I don't really take in the action behind me or check stack sizes. Oversight. I ultimately decide to just call and play a pot in position (this is probably a mistake and not the optimal way to play this situation).

At any rate, the action folds to Rick in the SB. He thinks for just a few seconds and ships it in for 23k (squeeze?). Astonishingly, this disheveled doofus in the BB ships it in for like 18k. The big stack who opened now folds, and it's my turn to act. Now.........this might seem like a trivially easy fold considering the action and the relative weakness of my hand. But it's not that simple. It's not just about the objective value of my hand here. First, the dude in the BB just moved to my table so I have no read; he isn't exactly presenting a formidable demeanor and I'm not really worried about what he's shoving. In reality, his shove probably makes it easier for me to get it in there. On the other hand, Rick--who is one of the most solid tournament players on the Coast and a dude I have played a lot of tourneys with--almost surely has me smoked here. And I know it, and he knows I know it. There's like a 90+% chance he has me crushed, and a smaller chance he was making a move/squeezing here. But he doesn't really have the fold equity to do it, so that option is heavily discounted. However, the pot is huge and it's laying me a huge price. I'm essentially getting 3.5 to 1, which means I only need a bit more than 20% equity to make the call with positive expectation. So even underpair vs overpair, for example, is almost a profitable call here. But that's in a vacuum. And regardless of what Rick is shoving, I still probably have 20% equity. The scenarios look like this. If I fold, I have ~34k or 17bbs which, while short-ish, is still a +avg stack and semi-manueverable at this point with 19 players left. If I call and lose, I have ~17k left which gives me a shove/fold stack only. If I call and win, I have ~90k which basically ensures a payout. All this sh*t is running through my head, and I tanked it for awhile. It's a close spot. I finally decided to fold b/c I just didn't want to put 50+% of my stack in the middle when I knew I was way behind. But this was one of those volatile spots in a tourney that define the outcome. F*ck or walk. Anyway after I folded, Rick turns up QQ and the dipsh*t in the BB turns over A6o and of course the flop comes AJx and the moron in the BB basically triples up.

I know I'm probably being a little results-oriented here, but it was such an awkward spot. It's a classic dilemma of making a decision that's player-dependent or math-driven. And it's also a situation-dependent spot. Specifically, am I going to find another +ev spot for a huge pot this late in the tourney? Usually if I'm torn, I just follow the math. But I also don't like being so strictly mechanical and unimaginative. There's a little more finesse involved in winning. However, I went with my gut and made a prudent decision. But you know, prudence won't win you very many NLHE tournaments. At any rate.................. I just faded away after that and busted in a very, very frustrating 12th place.

And that's that. Again, I had a winning day so it's all good. I'll be back at the Beau on Friday. Hope to see you out there.

rg

Air It Out

2008-07-28T16:35:00.004-05:00

28 July 08 - So apparently, I have some ancient filter size for the air conditioner at my house. I just wasted an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back. Tilt. I went to four different establishments in search of 20x24x1 and was met with futility at each turn. Then, I realized there's this cool new thing called the internet, and you can pretty much buy anything imaginable. Wow. Glad I'm on top of it.

What else? Not much. I played the tourney on Sunday and finished 18th of about 70. I was crippled when I shoved 33 from the SB vs. a limper who ultimately called with Q9hh. The board ran out J8xTx. Boooooo. Couldn't recover from there.

Also......got to hang out with GeneD who made his way in for the tourney. After the tourney, we knocked back some beers at 875 and talked about poker while I eyeballed the nice-looking cocktail waitresses, etc, etc. Good time there.

Ok. That's it. Probably playing a lot of cash this week, and maybe even an all-nighter. Back with more later.....

A Little Redemption

2008-07-26T18:44:00.013-05:00

25 July 08 - On Friday, I assuaged the lingering doubts about my ability to play through the tourney bubble. Somewhat redeeming myself from last Sunday's implosion, I final-tabled the Beau's Friday noon tourney. We ultimately chopped it 6 ways, mostly as a result of similar stack sizes in relation to the overwhelming blinds/antes at that point. (((As to the subject of chopping, I am not always a proponent nor am I strictly opposed to it. When it seems to make sense, I go for it. And it seemed to make sense on Friday. There you have it.)))

The tourney had about 75 players in it. Action really grinded to a halt when we were down to 15 players, as play turned into a nut-peddling nit fest. And this gridlock ultimately hampered play at the final table because it took us sooooooo long to eliminate the requisite number of players.

I had an uphill battle as my day started off wrong. By the end of the first level (25/50), I lost half of my 10k stack mainly due to one hand. The villain in question really confused me with his line, and this led to me paying him off on every street. After I raised a series of limpers OTB pre-flop to 225 with KK, four of us saw a flop of Qh 5h 9h. The action checked to me and I led for a weak-ish 600 (considering the opponents, no one is ever folding the Ah here, so it doesn't alter the sequence if I bet 600 or 2000). Anyway.........the dude UTG then check-raised to 1500. Everyone else folded and I called. When the turn bricked, he decided to bet 800. Um. What? This guy didn't seem like a clown, but I've very often been wrong so I just resigned myself to being perplexed here. To me, this really looked like the naked Ah and his feeble attempt to continue with his check-raise semi-bluff line. I begrudingly resisted my instinct to raise him and just called since it was so early on (is this a leak? "so early on"... does it matter?). The river bricked out black as well, and he now bet 1100. Yes, his turn and river bets were both less than his flop bet. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the wonderful world of donkaments. Again I called, and he showed A2hh for the nuts. Ok then. Perplexed I remain.

From there, my stack hovered at ~4k until 200/400 when I got it in (bad) PF with AK vs KK and luckily outflopped the dude ('bout time I got a suckout when it counts!). Then, I went on a pretty mad rush that got me to 75k in a short period of time. Even after playing in so many tournaments over the past year and a half, I was amazed at how fast fortunes change. There's a lesson to be learned in there - something about patience, timing, and a lil' luck, I presume. You're just never down and out until you are.

From there, it was pretty standard and boring. Mostly, it was satisfying to redeem myself and discard the remnants of mental detritus loitering from last week's shortcoming. Hooofuckingrah.

I'll be back for the tourney at noon on Sunday.

The Donkey Within

2008-07-20T18:11:00.004-05:00

20 July 08 - Oh lord, here we go again. And no, this isn't a post about a bad beat. So please keep reading.

Well I shook off my tilt from Friday, and got back into action today at the $15k gtd at the Beau. I played as well as I possibly could have (and maybe ever have) until we got down to the last 2 tables. And then I utterly, completely imploded my stack in one hand. Is this sounding familiar? Because it sure feels that way. When we combined to 2 tables, I had a top-3 chip stack but somehow managed to get busted by the only person at my table who could do so. Man, I feel sick to my stomach right now.

Without getting into all the specifics of the hand, let me just say this. I made two glaring errors, one on the flop and then compounded that error on the turn. Instead of putting myself in great position for the $6k first prize, I busted myself. Well done. On the flop I missed my chance at a check-shove iso which was mandatory considering the situation. I mean, this is MTT 101. I check-called an all-in short stack shove on the flop, and priced in the big stack behind me like a total moron. Realizing the error, I then astonishingly shoved into the effective nuts that were made on the turn. It was just so embarrassingly horrible. I ended up finishing 18th of about 90. It's so disgusting that I didn't cash. Much like life, nothing is guaranteed in poker.

So that's that. I really felt like I played incredibly right up until my inner donkey seized control. As important as the money is to me--and it is important--it hurts even more to lose like this. Live and learn, baby. F*ck it.

Ok. I promise to limit the negativity I post from now on. But this forum is both a cathartic and therapeutic vehicle, so it helps to get it out of me. I don't want my bad decisions stalking me at the tables.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going seek out some xanax to quell the disquietude of my emotions.

Peace.

rg

Friend of the Devil

2008-07-18T20:42:00.004-05:00

18 July 08 - This is a blog post I don’t really want to write, but I feel like I have to. Gotta give you both the bad and the good...

So……for about the past 2 months I have been doing really well at the tables – both the tournaments and especially the cash games. Well today I got a visit from the bad variance devil. I guess it was inevitable. It was a pretty ugly day, and I took what is almost certainly the most disgusting beat I can recall in a cash game, all things considered. I’ll get to that interesting situation in just a second….

I played the noon superstack tourney, which turned out to be very strange. At 50/100, I played my first hand of the day (QQ) and was gifted a double-up from this lunatic chasing a gutterball on the turn. After that, I played it close to the vest until the antes kicked in. I was then crippled when I snapped off this dude’s turn bluff shove on a dry board with TT vs his AJo; the river predictably peeled an A and I was mostly down to the felt instead of having a top 5 stack. I was pretty tilted but felt like I did a good job of controlling myself. Unfortunately, it didn’t last too long………

After I busted from the tourney, I sat in a NL game with what was surely a table full of clowns. I was just waiting to get my money in on monster hands. And this I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t get paid off. So the hand in question goes down like this. UTG, I look down at JcJd and raise to $15. An older dude in MP calls, and the action folds to this young Asian kid OTB. He looks at the SB and says to him “are you calling?” The moron in the SB (SBM) says “yep” and they both proceed to call. I look at them both and say “knock that sh*t off, it’s not cool.” The SBM looks at me and laughs, and I say “I’m serious. Enough.” These guys had, for an hour or so, been doing plenty of things considered unacceptable during hands they played. This is a good example. It was annoying me, but I didn't want to be a dick and run them off. I wanted them sticking around to donk off their money, so I was being nice. Well....not calling the floor at this point and having both of their hands declared dead would end up felting me.

So…… the flop comes Js 7d 3h. A dream flop for a set of jacks. The SB moron leads out for $30; I call behind; the older dude in MP raises to $100; and the button folds. The SBM calls the raise pretty fast, and now it’s my turn to act with what is essentially an unbeatable hand; no draws to be seen. I glance at the dude in MP and he’s emanating strength, not to mention he's a rock and just raised an open and a cold call. So I just shove my remaining $450+ in the middle and he proceeds to snap-shove his stack which covers mine. The moron in the SB tanks for like 3 minutes, and finally calls all-in as well (his stack also covers mine). So there’s $1500+ out there with a side pot as well. All the $$ is in the middle. We turn up our hands.

Me: JcJd
Old dude in MP: 3d3s
SBM: Jh7h

Well of course, the turn and river peel running hearts and this sh*tbag in the SB makes a miracle flush to rake the pot. I mean, I got it in as a 90% favorite for 3 buy-ins and somehow missed. Gross. I totally lost it there at the table. Especially after realizing that this d*ckhead shouldn’t have even been in the hand had I just called the floor before the flop. As I’m putting up my iPod and getting ready to leave, he sort of smiles at me and says “sorry man, unlucky.” And in an enraged state of juvenile fury, I retort “you're horrible, I'm glad you play here.” Real mature, Reid. I wish I hadn't said that. Luckily for me, he was pretty non-confrontational and let it slide. He certainly could’ve wiped the floor with me (for those of you who don’t know me, I’m not the most physically imposing guy out there).

I was really tilted for about 2 hours.... really tilted. But I can take solace in the fact that it was just one buy-in. Not really that big of a deal. If I can’t get my head back on straight this weekend, I’ll just stay away from the card room. I don’t want to miss the $15k gtd tourneys this weekend, but I won’t be playing unless I can perform optimally.

I think I feel better already. Peace.

Sunrise Over Me

2008-07-17T15:25:00.004-05:00

16-17 July 08 - I just arose from a slumber after a 15 hour cash session at the Beau from Wed afternoon-Thurs morning. My stack yo-yo'd up and down, and when the dust settled, I made out with $30 profit for an astounding $2 hourly rate. Rock star.

And for those of you keeping score at home, 15 hours = $180 in rake. How brutal is that? Live rakeback anyone?

This weekend, the Beau is holding their $15k gtd tourneys on both Saturday and Sunday. The structures are good for these, as is the player turnout. Good luck out there.

rg

Hot and Cold

2008-07-12T22:49:00.004-05:00

12 July 08 - I got absolutely run over by the deck in my cash session today.

This all happened in a two hour span. Take a look:

* AT - Board: QJxKx
* KK - Board: TxxKx
* QQ - Board: 99AQx
* TT - Board: 558Tx
* 77 - Board: 722xx
* 22 - Board: 2TTxx

I also rivered the nut flush to stack one dude and win a side pot against this little Asian lady. For the record, that's broadway, the nut flush, four (yes, 4) boats, and top set in two hours.

Now that's just absurd.

On the flip side, I think my hot water heater broke today. Perfect.

The Vampire Sessions

2008-07-09T17:04:00.009-05:00

9 July 08 - I pulled a good ol' fashioned all-nighter last night. It's been awhile since I played through the night, and it felt good to do it. Right about now, it doesn't feel as great. I played from 9pm to 9am this morning and emerged unscathed with a marginal profit. The session went surprisingly fast, as daylight approached before I even realized it. As of this writing, I am totally wiped. The all-nighters really take a toll, and it's going to take me a day and a half to recover. Unfortunately, I'm missing the tourney tonight because I just don't have the focus and intensity to properly compete.

So last night..........I got to the Beau a bit before 9pm and the poker room was, to my surprise, pretty crowded. While I was waiting on my table, I railed the big PLO game which Josh Arieh appeared to be getting the very best of. There was an impressive cache of $$ moving around in the 6-handed game.

When I got seated in my game, I soon pegged my table for being seriously passive and that remained constant throughout the night. As such, I frequently got involved and, for what seemed like 3-4 hours, I played virtually every hand. My volatile approach resulted in my stack size fluctuating wildly during the course of the night. Every time I built some forward momentum, I was unable to sustain it due to a combination of table image, failed bluffs, and a few cooler-ish spots. Mainly though, the lack of momentum was self-inflicted as I just didn't have the patience to sit back and pick spots to strike.

Maybe the most interesting hand went down like this. From MP, I open Q4cc to $16. This odd, older, tight Euro guy called me OTB and we saw a heads-up flop of Ac 6c 4d. As was emblematic of my night, I decided to screw with him (and hopefully not myself) and make a strange check min-raise on the flop just for the hell of it. He lead for $25 after my check and I then made it $50. He peered down at me from his spectacles and inquired "you have ze draw?" I shrugged and then lead for $70 after the turn comically peeled the 4s, giving me a veritable monster draw. He pondered for a bit, and then made the call. The refreshing Qh hit 5th street, filling me up and maybe more importanly, blanking out all draws. Before I bet into him, I went back to re-think the hand. It was obvious he put me a draw, as he said as much. I decided to not out-think it beyond ths point, and settled on repping a 3rd barrel missed draw. So, I fired $205 into the roughly $275 pot (and him having just $320-ish behind). After I bet, he leaned forward and emphatically said "how much?" It was clear he was agonizing. Finally, he said "call, you miss?" I said "runner, runner" as I tabled my hand. This was probably the biggest pot I won all night. I think he had A6, but he didn't show.

On two occassions, I got caught on stone-cold bluffs in which I was playing my opponent and the board, irrespective of my cards. It was essentially a game of chicken, and I came out the worst for it twice. It didn't help that my image was not remotely tight either. Sometimes I'm just plain, f*cking stupid. Without these two needless spots, I would've showed up with a nice profit last night. Other than that, I spent the night consuming: 3 coronas, 1 tequila, 2 coffees, 2 ginger ales, 1 cranberry, 2 waters.

I vampired my way into the morning light and grinded my way home... I'm still on very little sleep so I'm headed to rest for the evening. I'll be back on Friday for the noon superstack and then maybe some cash afterwards. Hope to see you out there.

Peace.

rg

On The Chronic Bubble

2008-07-06T14:14:00.003-05:00

3-5 July 08 - I had a solid week playing cards, but probably didn't play as much as I should have. Feeling less than optimal after a bit of drinking/partying this weekend, I stayed away from the tables on Saturday/Sunday as I didn't want to give it less than my best.

My cash sessions all went well, and I definitely should've grinded at least 10 more hours than I did. The loose $$ was flying around, and the time spent was sure to be profitable. Alas, I'll still be able to freeroll my tourneys for the next few weeks.

In the Friday tourney at the Beau, 90 people turned out. I really should've gotten it done again, but I busted in a very, very, very disappointing 13th place. Down to about 18 players, I had a top 5 stack and one that I could've taken to the final table by just folding. About 65k. I'm not, however, much into the "play not to lose" philosophy, so I continued to push and abuse the squeezers trying to sneak into the money. The debilitating hand, though, came when a medium stack (40k) open-shoved from the hijack with KQcc. OTB, I squeeze out AKdd and immediately re-shove it. 4th street disgustingly delivered a Q and put an unrecoverable dent into my hopes of having a super-profitable week. A few people at the table told me I should just be folding there because of my stack size. Huh? For real? What kind of stupid sh*t is that?!? How in the hell can you ever expect to win a tournament by folding AKs on the bubble against a LP raiser? Are these people out of their f*cking minds? It's no wonder poker is a profitable game for so many people. End rant. Sorry about that. Anyway.......my last 2 hands saw me open-shove from the button, and twice get looked up by the BB. The first was my A7ss vs. her AJo. The last was my ATo vs. her TT. The ending was not too nice to me, and I was pretty despondent for awhile there. But whatever. It's just poker.

So, I'll be back at it this week, probably Wed-Sun.

Burst

2008-07-03T01:19:00.005-05:00

2 July 08 - I donked my way to a 4th place finish tonight for a nice little score. Despite not seeing a PP higher than 99 all night, I bobbed and weaved to the final table and then some. I built a manageable stack at the end, but jammed A7cc into QQ and AKo.....and that was that.

So.......I'll be back in the mix on Thursday night (maybe), Friday all day (definitely) and Sunday (almost definitely). There's $$$ to be made this weekend. And my pockets need new lining.

Fade....